Dark Victorian Wonderland
by werewolf242002
Summary: Yui is part of a small group that hunts down and kills supernatural beings in the victorian era. But what happens when she and her group come across a young vampire who is struggling to stay human? Various pairings but mainly Yui/Azusa
1. Prologue: Fractured Memory

Fractured Memory

"_Run! And don't you dare look back!"_

_That's what her father said as she stared at him, wide eyed with fear as a rather large figure towered over him._

_Her father moved to attack the figure, but was easily knocked off his feet before the largest sword she had ever seen descended on his fragile body._

_She let out a scream of terror as the sword easily cut him in half and blood began to pool under him._

_That's about the time the figure turned towards her; red eyes looked amused as the figure chuckled darkly._

_Her legs finally started working and she sprinted away from the carnage and gore. Her hand gripping the one thing she had left of her father._

_The little cat necklace._

_As the scenery sped past her, she could hear the screams of all the other people in the burning village; begging for help or begging to be killed._

_These creatures were just toying with them._

_And that figure, he was their leader._

_Their king._

_She just had to survive; her father didn't want her to suffer the fate of the village, why didn't she listen to him before!_

_Soon she turned a corner only to be surrounded by the creatures._

_Their eyes trained on her as she let out a strangled gasp before she turned to run the opposite way, but the ominous large figure stood in her way._

"_Where do you think you're going, little mouse?" The king of the creatures asked, that same taunting smirk on its lips but this time, it was dripping with blood and his fangs glistened in the fire's light._

_She didn't say anything; if she did, it would only give him more reason to attack her like her father._

_She tried to be brave, tried to calm the shakes in her body, tried to not think about the fact that she'll die just like the rest of them._

_The king tilted his head and chuckled softly, his followers giggling along with him._

"_You must think I'm going to kill you. Just like everyone else in this pathetic village. I can tell… terror is coursing through your veins… it's a very delicious sound."_

_She gulped when she watched him lick his lips, cleaning them of the blood while mocking her._

"_But no. I have… greater need for you, little mouse. Did you're father ever tell you about my clan? Did he tell you about…" _

_She suddenly felt like she couldn't hear, she could see the creature's mouth moving, but the noise suddenly got drowned out by something before she was finally able to hear again._

"_I guess not. No matter. A deal is a deal. And fortunate for you… you will get to live a rather glorious life… or should I say… after life."  
>That's when he began to advance onto her, his giant form hovering over her trembling one.<em>

"_N-No, s-stay back!" She cried out when she suddenly felt paralyzed under those red eyes, which now began to glow.  
>Her mind screamed at her to move, to run away, to get out, but her body refused to budge. She could hear a faint hiss in her ear and hot breath against her neck before searing pain struck her quicker then anything she had ever felt.<em>

_Her eyes went wide and she finally got control over her mouth as her pained scream pierced the fiery night sky._

* * *

><p>"Oi, wake up."<p>

_S-Save me… w-whoever you are… s-save me… I can't see… I feel so cold._

"Don't be so melodramatic. Get up little one."

_H-Huh?_

"You heard me. Get up!"

Suddenly she felt a strong pull on her arm and she was brought to her feet.

There was no more pain, no more heat. In fact, there wasn't a lot of anything anymore that she could feel.

She slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a girl who looked to be about her age with dark brown hair and puffy pigtails; who was in a white sailor shirt with a dark brown belt around her waist and black very tight looking pants.

But as she stared into those blood red eyes panic began to flow through her once more.

"Whoa whoa, calm down I'm not going to hurt you. Besides, I couldn't even if I wanted to… you're pretty pathetic looking for a vampire, you know that?" The vampire mused as she titled her head slightly.

"W-What?" The panicked girl asked, as she suddenly looked very confused before her tongue touched something foreign in her mouth.

Her eyes went wide and she began to feel the fangs she knew she didn't have before.

"Q-Quick! Is there a mirror I can look at-"  
>"Why would you want a mirror? It's not going to help, in fact that's a pretty pointless ide-"<br>"Shut up and take me to a mirror now!"

"Fine… gah so bossy." The vampire led the panicked girl over towards the dark colored wall and pointed to the large mirror that was on it.

The girl quickly ran in front of it and opened her mouth, but what surprised her even more then the fact that she could feel very sharp fangs was…

She had no reflection in the mirror.

"I told you it'd be pointless."

"W-What am I!"

The vampire looked stunned.

"What do you mean?... You don't know what you are?"

"T-That thing… what did he do to me!"

Realization seemed to work its way into the vampire girl's mind as she put a hand on the panicked girl's shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look.

"Tell me… what's your name? My name is Jun." The vampire stated softly as she tilted her head towards the girl.

"A-Ah… m-my name is Nakano A-Azusa."

Jun blinked over and over, looking stunned.

"You remember your full name? Do you remember what happened when you got… bitten?"

Azusa brought a hand up to her neck, feeling the puncture holes against her pulse before her stomach began to churn.

"Y-Yes… I do… my village was under attack by… vampires… the largest one was fighting with my father. My father told me to r-run… w-why did he want me?" Azusa asked as she looked up at Jun with watery eyes, still trying to process the fact that she was no longer human.

Jun gave her new friend a shrug before her eyes narrowed.

"No one knows why he… chose you. You seem to be a special case for him. I don't know why, but the others aren't very happy with this since you got his special attention." Jun replied as she walked over to the bed Azusa was laying on earlier and sat down on it. "Odd that you have your memories still intact too. Most vampires can't even remember their last name let alone the night they were turned."

"… So I'm a special case in more then one way." Azusa replied as she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that she had been turned into the thing that had killed her entire village.

"I suggest you continue to _pretend_ you don't have any memory of what happened. It'll save you a lot of pain." Jun said as she scratched the under side of her jaw before looking back over towards Azusa.

"Why?"

"Because if you don't, he'll do worse to you. If he finds out you can still remember who you are then that means you won't be… loyal to him. He'll do worse till you forget everything about yourself… and your past." Jun replied as she jumped back onto her feet and walked towards her.

"Why are you being so nice to me? H-How do I know you're telling the truth? You're one of them too. You could b-be lying to me…" Azusa muttered as she slowly back away as Jun got closer. Once her back hit the wall behind her she felt Jun lean in, those blood red eyes trying to stare into her soul before she felt heat against her neck from the vampire's mouth.

"That's just a chance you'll have to take… now isn't it?" Jun purred as she slide a hand over the pulse of Azusa's neck before pulling back to laugh softly at the now red face of her new friend. "I'm just joking with you, geez relax will you? I'm really not lying to you… I'm kind of like… your new friend. Everyone else here will try to… get their hands on you. So I suggest you just stick close to me and do what I do." Jun stated as she gave Azusa a small pat on the head before the smile was once again gone. "I'm the only one you can trust here… don't you ever forget that. It'll save what's left of your sanity."

Azusa felt a knot in her throat.

She wasn't sure she could trust anyone here let alone this young vampire.

But, surely she isn't like the rest of them.

She wouldn't hurt anyone right?

Suddenly she began to feel very dizzy and her stomach walls clenched tightly as she doubled over.

"A-Ah… w-what the…" Azusa mumbled as she felt Jun kneel down in front of her.

"Calm down, you're just hungry. Which probably isn't good for you since you remember everything of your past.

"N-No, I won't… I c-can't… b-by hungry you mean… no no I can't do that!" Azusa yelled as she began shaking slightly.

Jun sighed and rolled her eyes.

"My you're quite the stubborn one aren't you?" Jun said as she rubbed the back of her head slightly. "Well maybe we ca-" She quickly closed her mouth as she stood up, standing stiffly as the door to the large room they were in opened.

"Ah, she's awake… and hungry by the looks of it."

Azusa felt panic back in her system as she looked up at the new figure that had just entered.

It was the large vampire that had killed her father.

"My precious little gem… stand up and let me get a better look at you." The man hissed through his shark teeth.

Azusa never noticed before but now that she had a better look at this vampire, she could easily see how different from normal vampires he was.

His mouth was full of sharp teeth, not just his canines, and his eyes were a deeper red then Jun's and possibly herself. He was dressed very formally, wearing a pitch black suit and an over cloak that covered his entire being.

She then remembered what Jun said; she had to pretend like she didn't know herself in front of him and the other vampires.

So Azusa did as she was told and stood up to allow the large vampire to survey her.

"Mm… still clinging to that necklace of yours are you?"

Azusa blinked in confusion and looked down to see her hand clenched around the small necklace.

The one her father gave her.

"W-What is this?" Azusa mumbled softly, trying to sound completely confused by it.

"Ah, I see… you know, it'd be ironic if you wear that, little gem…"  
><em>Why is he calling me a gem?... Am I really that important to him?<em>

Azusa thought as she watched Jun walk over to her and grab the necklace out of her hand before putting it around her neck.

"Thank you, Jun, that looks much better… now then. You're hungry." The man growled as he turned his gaze back onto Jun. "Take her to the nearby village with a few others and… introduce her to how we feed."

"Yes, m'lord." Jun said as she bowed her head towards him while Azusa did the same, after all Jun did tell her to follow her every movement.

"Good, happy huntings." The large vampire turned on his heels and began to walk out the door, before he shut it Azusa noticed a slightly older woman with very short blackish grey hair staring at her with such hate she almost shuddered.

"Is that really important to you?" Jun asked as she stared at the necklace with a raised eyebrow.

Azusa looked down at the precious jewelery before nodding solemnly.

"My father gave this to me… it's the only thing I have left of him… uhm who was that girl that was with him?" Azusa asked as soon as Jun pulled out a dark brown cloak from one of the wardrobes.

"That would be Wada Akira. You don't want to mess with her at all. She's pretty much his right hand." Jun said as she rolled her eyes a little before tossing the cloak over to Azusa who stared at it curiously. "Put that on, if I'm going to take you on your first raid you'll need to not be seen by humans."

"I'm not biting anyone!" Azusa protested as she felt a snarl deep in her throat that scared her slightly.

"Easy tiger… we have to do as he says. Don't worry okay? You don't have to kill anyone. Just a nibble." Jun tried to comfort the already shaken girl before two more vampires walked in.

Azusa noticed one was a pretty buff young girl with black hair and the other had long dirty blonde hair.

"Ready to go, Jun-chan?" The black haired vampire asked.

"Yes, just a moment, I need to grab my cloak. Come with me Azusa." Jun said as she grabbed Azusa's hand and tugged her towards the other new vampires.

"Oh, so she is awake… she's really cute~" The blonde purred and as Azusa walked by she felt herself get yanked from Jun's grasp and into the arms of the larger girl.

"You're right Hime-chan… she looks pretty tasty. I wonder if she's a virgin."

Azusa gulped when she felt the vampire pull her even close and grin at her rather seductively.

"I wonder if she's a screamer-"  
>"Oi, knock it off Nobuyo!" Azusa then felt Jun tug her back; placing a protective arm around her before snarling loudly at the other two vampires. "She's mine. You touch her and I won't have any regrets about ripping your throats out!"<p>

The two vampires growled lowly at Jun, but the pig-tailed girl didn't seem phased by the threatening noises before they finally gave up and shrugged.

"Fine, get ready and we'll take the master's treat out for a good hunt." The one named Hime-chan said as she turned to Nobuyo. "Lets go Nobuyo."

"Hai hai." They wondered off leaving Jun and Azusa alone long enough for the twin-tailed girl to sigh heavily.

"Thank you Jun… for saving me."

"No problem. You have to be pretty tough around here if you want to live. I learned that a long time ago." Jun whispered bitterly as she walked to her room to grab her cloak.

Azusa noticed that Jun's room was more like a small cell and even though it had a small wardrobe in it as well as a bed, it felt more like a prison than her room did.

"Jun… why is your room so much smaller then the one I was in?" Azusa couldn't help but ask as she stared over at the vampire.

Jun sighed heavily as she pulled her cloak around her small frame before turning to stare harshly at Azusa.

"No reason, it gets cramped in this place with how many people he turns… this was just fine with me. I don't need a big place. Besides he allows me to wander as I please. I'd rather see the country sides then stare at these walls." Jun hissed before she motioned Azusa to follow her. They walked down the winding steps of what Azusa guessed was a castle by the damp brick walls and large dim candle lit chandlers. There were also pictures of women all over the walls, each one looking more regal then the last.

She wanted to ask more questions, but the aura of anger radiating off Jun prevented her from doing so and she continued to follow obediently before they came to a stop next to the other two vampires they had met earlier.

"What took you so long Jun, I'm starving." Nobuyo whined as the blonde fastened her cloak around her shoulders.

"Sorry, it won't happen again. Let's get this over with shall we? Before we go however, may I remind you that this is for her training, we shouldn't make this a public thing…" Jun muttered irritably.

"We'll try, Jun-chan." Himeko taunted as she and Nobuyo opened the doors.

Azusa watched in awe as the vampires took off ahead of them once the large wooden doors were opened.

They were running almost as fast as the wind!

"You can do that too you know. It's not that difficult, just run with all your might. You're much stronger then you use to be."

Azusa blushed bashfully. Jun must have noticed her gazing at them in shock before the pig-tailed girl took off.

"Try to keep up!" She called back playfully.

Azusa swallowed hard before she decided to test out her newfound strengths.

_If I can figure out what I can and can't do… maybe I can kill him. _

She thought as she began sprinting towards Jun.

It felt amazing to be able to run as fast as she was. She figured she was faster than any carriage in the land as she easily caught up to Jun who was giving her a playful smirk.

"That didn't take long for you to figure out, usually the first time you run you-"  
>Azusa felt her foot get caught by a root and she instantly fell face first into the dirt before skidding a few feet as Jun stopped to fall to her knees and laugh as hard as she could.<p>

Azusa slowly lifted her face up and out of the dirt, coughing up bits of rock and grass before shooting Jun a glare as the vampire doubled over.  
>"Oh that was so worth it! So worth it! Holy blood sucking God!" Jun bellowed as she practically rolled around on the ground.<p>

Azusa would have been even madder had she not realized that it didn't hurt that badly to hit the ground as hard as she did. In fact, upon inspecting her face she didn't feel any cuts or bruises at all.

"Surprised not to see any blood?" Jun asked once she finally pulled herself off the ground before walking over to help Azusa to her feet as well

"No, I think I understand perfectly well why I don't have a scratch on me…"

"Good, accepting the fact that you are what you are now will help in the long run." Jun murmured as she motioned with her head towards the light of a small village in the distance. "We're at our destination anyway."  
>"I don't want to do this." Azusa shouted angrily as she began to back way slightly from Jun.<p>

"Oi, don't get scared now… I told you before didn't I? You can just have a nibble, you don't have to kill." Jun remarked as she jumped up into the trees to survey the surroundings. "Look there are archers in bunks just up ahead, you can go into one of those bunks unnoticed and just take a little sip of whatever is in there-"

Jun's explanation was cut short as an explosion happened in the middle of town followed by screams of terror.

"Those stupid- I told them not to make this public!" Jun hissed angrily before jumping back down where Azusa was. "Look Azusa, how about you just wait here. I'll be back… maybe I can get you an arm or something that way you won't feel bad cause then it wasn't you who killed someone." Jun said irritably before she sprinted off towards the village.

Azusa stood rooted in her spot.

She watched as the village caught fire and the screams got louder.

She felt her chest tighten as memories flashed in her eyes, her father making his sacrifice, bodies littering the ground and the smell of blood so strong it made her-

Azusa quickly covered her mouth when she remembered the smell of blood, it had almost triggered something deep within her and she tried very hard to calm whatever it was down before she saw a small child running towards her.

His eyes grew large once he saw that yet another vampire was standing in front of him before turning, only to be caught around the waist by Himeko. The vampire was covered from head to toe in blood and her eyes were glowing bright red.

"Trying to run little one? Don't worry, it'll only hurt a seco-"  
>"Wait!" Azusa yelled when she noticed the vampire getting ready to bite the child. "I-I'm very hungry… a-and he is so small. D-Do you think I can… t-taste him?" Azusa felt disgusted for saying things like that, but she didn't want to see the small child killed before her eyes. If this worked, she could save him.<p>

The blonde gave Azusa a skeptical look before grinning widely.

"So you want your first meal to be a child? How naughty… very well." Himeko mewled as she tossed the child at Azusa's feet. "Enjoy~"

Azusa quickly reached down and lifted the child into her arms, keeping a tight hold on him as he squirmed before watching Himeko disappear back towards the village.

"L-Let me g-go, p-please! D-Don't e-eat me!"

"Shh… I'm not going to eat you." Azusa tried to calm the child down as she quickly took off away from the village so she could let the child run. After getting far enough away she sat the child down and smiled kindly, though she was sure her toothy smile was a bit more frightening now that she had fangs.

"Get out of here. Flee! Save yourself…" Azusa yelled in a small whisper. She could see the confusion in the small boy's eyes before he nodded firmly and began running.

Azusa sighed to herself and she was happy she was away from the village; the smell of blood was going to get to her again if she had stayed.

She turned to walk back to her normal spot when she felt her foot step on something metal.

She quickly looked down and noticed a small rusted metal plate before the sound of something clicking was heard.

Before Azusa could do anything, a sharp pain struck her right shoulder, left hand, and her right thigh; making her scream in pain before collapsing onto the ground. She quickly opened her eyes to look at what had just happened and noticed spikes sticking out of her shoulder, hand and thigh before her eyes snapped up to look around for the source of these weapons.

Azusa then noticed a weird mechanical device not to far, hidden by the bushes and trees around her.

She must have triggered it when she stepped on the metal plate.

Thankfully these spikes didn't pierce anything important, but it still hurt like hell; hurt enough for her to cry softly as she pulled herself to her feet.

Those machines must have been designed to kill vampires, because after a few more moments the wounds began to sizzle and smoke and the pain got worse.  
>Azusa let out choking gasps of pain before grabbing the spike in her hand and yanking it out quickly. She was too busy yanking the one out of her thigh to notice the wound instantly closing up on her hand.<p>

She didn't get to the one in her shoulder before she quickly began stumbling towards a small cave.

_I-It h-hurts so m-much. A-Ah… I-I can't… I h-have to…_

Even Azusa's thoughts didn't make sense as she fumbled against the cold cave wall before collapsing on the ground.

She raised her hand up to grab the spike in her shoulder but the pain was too much.

Her hand slowly slid down the spike before lying uselessly at her side as she stared up at the ceiling of the cave.

_I-I can't die… I have to… a-avenge… Father…_

* * *

><p>Author Notes: Oh god, first chapter done! And already it's turning out to be much longer then anything I've ever worked on. I'm so excited guys! So very excited! –bounces excitedly- So many amazing and awesome things are planned for this and I can't wait to write this for you wonderful stalkers. :3 Anyway! Please remember to review and give me helpful criticism and I'll do what I can to make each chapter more enjoyable~<p>

EDIT: Fixed a few typos here and there.

The beta is too busy plotting out epic stuff to leave a proper note. :D


	2. Chapter 1: Shattered Pieces

Shattered Pieces

"Onee-chan! Watch out!"

As soon as the young pony-tailed brunette yelled out, she watched as her sister instantly tripped over her own feet and dropped to the grassy ground right as a small ball of fire sailed over her head.

The brunette in the grass could easily feel the heat radiating off the fireball as she snapped her head up, chocolate brown eyes searching for her gun.

"Yui! Shoot it!" The raven-haired beauty cried out as she watched her friend fumble clumsily for her revolver that had flipped a few inches out of her reach.

Unable to watch the sad display any longer, the bespectacled leader quickly pulled her musket off her back and aimed as one of the small grayish demons began to summon another fireball. Before it could even think about tossing it towards the downed girl, a shot rang out, instantly piercing the tiny demon's head before it exploded into a puff of dust.

Imps.

Stupid little long ear devils, and there were a lot of them. What they lacked in size they made up for in numbers.

What was supposed to be one of the simplest missions the leader found that involved taking out a few imps turned into chaos when one of her two new recruits went barging into battle head first before assessing the situation.

The brunette, Yui, who was lying in the grass finally grabbed her revolver as another imp charged up its magic before she quickly flipped onto her back and shot it square in the chest; watching as it poofed in another explosion of powdery dust.

"Nodoka, to your left; there's more!" The raven-haired young woman yelled out warningly before she pulled her two revolvers out of their holsters and fired upon the little demons while dodging the balls of fire with ease, not minding the heat that sped past her face.

"Thanks for the warning Mio!" The leader, Nodoka, called out as she quickly turned to her left and pulled her sword from her belt to slice at one of the imps that had gotten too close before quickly aiming her gun at another and pulling the trigger.

As Yui began to pull herself up to her feet, the other brunette, her sister, quickly guarded her back from the imps that began swarming them.

"Thank you Ui." Yui muttered gratefully as she turned to protect her sister's back. "Nodoka-chan! I thought you said imps don't travel in packs!"

"They don't, I don't know why there are so many in one area!" Nodoka replied as she stabbed another imp through the middle of its small body; the demons finally realized they were too out matched and may not win so they turned tail to quickly begin their retreat.

"Not so fast!" Mio exclaimed with a smirk as she aimed one of her revolvers at a rope and shot at it.

The rope snapped and trigged their trap and right as the imps ran across the area where it was, spikes shot out from the bushes, instantly killing the rest of the fleeing demons and creating a large powdery dusty mess.

Soon, the forest was quiet once more and the birds could be heard chirping once again as the small group of vampire hunters slowly felt their pulse return to normal. Who knew a forest this lush and beautiful could be so dangerous?

Yui and Ui both put their guns in their holsters before the older sibling looked down shamefully, a thin sheen of sweat covered her body as Nodoka charged up to her with a hard frown on her flushed face.

"What did I tell you about running in head first without a plan?" The bespectacled girl lectured as she clenched her jaw tightly.

"N-Not to do that." Yui replied as she continued to avert her eyes from her angry leader.

Nodoka sighed irritably before she slid her fingers through her sweat-matted hair.

"You may be my oldest friend Yui but if you do that again, I'll just send you back so you don't have to do field work." Nodoka said with a soft huff before she turned to survey her other members. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Yes, I don't have a scratch on me." Mio replied as she put her revolvers away. Ui put a hand on her sisters' back, reassuring her slightly before giving Nodoka a small worried smile.

"I'm fine as well Nodoka-san."

Yui finally met her childhood friend's disappointed glare before giving her a small smile in hopes that would somehow ease the tension between the two of them. Finally, Nodoka seemed to relax and lose her formal busy self before giving the brunette a smile back.

"Yui, I'm sorry but you have to learn to be more careful. Those were just imps but that situation could have been much worse had it been something like a werewolf or vampire." Nodoka said softly as she put her musket in the holster on her back before putting the sword in its scabbard. "We'll do more training later, Yui. You need to learn how to roll when you trip so you won't spend so much time trying to get up." The leader turned on her heels and began walking down a small path towards the village they had just come from.

"Y-Yes, Nodoka-chan." Yui muttered as she and her sister followed while Mio took up her position at the end to watch their backs in case anything else decided to jump out of nowhere.

It was midday and even though the sun was shinning brightly and the forest they were in was a lush green, there were dangers in the forest the locals had said. Yui remembered how skittish they were when they showed up, apparently fearful of newcomers. They had gotten a job taking out the imps from the innkeeper so they could get a place to stay, but didn't realize just how many imps there were.

Before they were attacked, Nodoka and Mio had set up the trap in order to take them by surprise but Yui had rushed head first into the fray to try and prove to her friend that she could hold her own.

Sadly, that wasn't the case.

There were so many imps and Yui's mistake almost cost not only her life, but the life of her friends and sister as well.

And the brunette felt terrible for it.

The village came into view; it was a small village with a few wooden houses and a few more brick houses with people of all kinds bustling about busily and the girls stopped short of it as Nodoka turned to the sisters and looked them over a bit.

"Remember what I said," Nodoka started catching both Yui and Ui's attention, "don't talk while we are in public. Mio and I can handle all the conversation we need… we are dressed as men for a reason. We don't want anyone knowing other wise."

The sisters nodded in unison before Mio walked pass them to stand near Nodoka.

"Are you ready Mio?" Nodoka asked as she fixed up her outfit a little, which was a dark violet vest that covered a white coulter shirt with black canvas trousers.

Mio, however, wore a black crocker trousers with a white work shirt that was covered by a black tailcoat.

Yui and Ui both wore white wyatt shirts with river trail vests over them with Yui wearing a pink colored vest while Ui wore a orange colored one with canvas trousers, both a dark grey color.

This helped give the young women a rather androgynous look and they weren't approached or even bothered as they made their way into town to the inn.

Yui and Ui decided to stay outside and wait for Mio and Nodoka to finish the deal while watching people walk by.

"It seems like a nice town," Ui stated as she watched the people refuse to meet their eyes, "if you get over the fact that the people are very paranoid."

"Yeah… why do you think they are like this?" Yui asked as she tilted her head slightly. "Do you think the imps were that vicious to them?"

Ui shrugged at the question before she looked down sadly.

Yui looked over and noticed the look on her sister's face and instantly put an arm around her, hugging her close before smiling.

"Say, when we become just as good as Mio-chan and Nodoka-chan we'll protect everyone we can… that way no one has to suffer." Yui said confidently while giving Ui one of her biggest smiles.

The younger sibling seemed stunned by the confidence suddenly pouring from Yui's being before she smiled back and nodded firmly.

"Yeah, you're right… then no one will have to go through what we did. Though…" Ui seemed to trail off a little causing Yui to tilt her head closer.

"Eh? What was that Ui?"

"I… I'm glad nothing bad happened to you." Ui whispered as she began to twiddle her thumbs a little.

She was shocked when she felt Yui slip her hand into her own giving it a gentle squeeze before grinning again.

"I'm glad nothing happened to you either. And I'm glad we at least have each other." Yui spoke while kissing her sister on the temple causing her to giggle softly.

When Nodoka came out to give Yui and Ui the signal to come inside, the two sisters let their hands go and quickly went inside to have a decent meal as well as a nice place to sleep.

Right inside was a small tavern connected to the inn that allowed its members or anyone with payment to eat and get something to drink. It was dark, only slightly illuminated by the lanterns on the inside while men and women of all types conversed with each other while they ate.

Once the girls got to their food, they quickly sat down at one of the wooden tables to eat.

"Say, Nodoka-chan?" Yui started, causing her friend to look up from the meat she had been served. "What happened to our things that we left here before we went to look for the imps?"

"Oh, the innkeeper kept them in the back. Don't worry, I paid him well so he shouldn't have stolen anything and they should now be in our room." Nodoka replied as she pulled a piece of meet to her mouth and began chewing on the slightly burnt food. "Bleh… well it could be worse."

"You're telling me… their soup is a bit too…" Mio muttered as she stuck out her tongue at the very thick soup that was in front of her.

Ui looked over them curiously before staring down at her own food; she had just gotten herself some bread and cheese, noting that the cheese looked a little bad, but she could easily cut off the bad parts.

Yui, however, quickly devoured whatever was in front of her since all the excitement of her first mission had finally gotten to her and as long as it wasn't mooing at her or making noises of that sort, she would gladly eat it.

After their meals, they made their way back up to their room to relax a little after a good days work while Nodoka began to count the money they had earned.

The room was small and had two beds right next to each other while a single lantern lit the room and a window was located on the far side of the room. Upon flopping onto the bed like Yui had, she found the beds to be a little too firm for her liking but she'd gladly deal with that as long as she got to take her nap. Ui sat down beside her and smile as she watched her sister roll towards her once she felt the bed shift and she rested lazily on her lap.

"We got a pound and eight shillings out of that. Of course, it would have been more had I not paid for the room for the night." Nodoka sighed as she placed the money in her bag before placing it on her belt. "We'll train a little later this evening and by twelve tonight we'll be able to sleep."

"Should we take our things just in case?" Mio asked as she pointed towards the large backpacks that they had been carrying for the last few weeks.

Nodoka frowned a little but nodded slightly.

"Sure that sounds like a good idea, most of the training equipment is in there anyway." Nodoka replied as she stood up and looked over at Yui who was still sprawled out across her sister's lap taking a quick nap.

Ui didn't seem to mind the fact that her lap was occupied. In fact, she was smiling brightly while stroking Yui's soft brown hair before she quickly stopped as Nodoka walked over.

"Sorry Ui, but I need to wake her up."

The younger girl nodded and watched wide eyed as Nodoka grabbed Yui by the collar and tugged her off the bed making the brunette gag softly before standing up fully by herself.

"A-Ack, N-Nodoka-chan!" Yui whimpered pitifully as she jutted out her bottom lip towards her childhood friend before the bespectacled girl shoved the large sack of their things into her arms.

"Since you were the cause of all the trouble today, you get the honor of carrying the things to the place where we will be training." Nodoka said firmly making Yui grunt as the large weight was deposited into her arms. "There's a nice clearing about a few miles out that we'll be using… I saw it on our way back from slaying those imps."

"I s-see." Ui mumbled as she watched Yui obediently hoist the sack of their belongings over her shoulder before whining out, trying to get Nodoka's attention with how painful this task was; the leader blatantly ignored her. Ui then grabbed her weapons as well as Yui's and watched as Nodoka headed out the door.

As they began to walk, both Mio and Ui offered Yui a sympathetic smile before they watched her stumble to make it down the stairs.

After what seemed to be a very painstakingly long and enduring walk to Yui, was really only a short fifteen-minute walk into the forest to the clearing that Nodoka was talking about. However, before they got there Yui felt like death itself.

Her face was bright red from trying to keep the large sack on her back while sweat dripped down her face to her neck as the cool summer breeze blew by did nothing to quell the heat from this task.

Nodoka stopped walking and turned to watch Yui bring up the rear with Mio and Ui on either side of her, making sure she didn't collapse under the weight of the bag.

"You can put it down now Yui." Nodoka commanded.

Once she was given the okay, Yui quickly let go of the sack and didn't mind all the clangs and other loud noises from within the bag as she collapsed onto her knees to pant heavily. Yui felt how wonderfully cool the damp grass was and she flung herself face first into the lush green, sighing happily before rolling around.

She could hear Mio laugh softly while her sister giggled as well.

"Mou, Onee-chan."

"Yui, this isn't the time to roll around." Yui heard Nodoka say firmly as she stopped on her back and stared up at the dark night sky.

"Eeeehhhh, but why? I did what you told me and that was really painful you kn-"

A sudden loud bang caused Yui to tense up and stare wide eyed up at her friend who was standing over her with her musket, which now smoked at the barrel.

Yui could smell smoke and burnt grass as she turned her head slightly to see a scorch mark just inches from her head.

"I said… get… up, Yui." Nodoka pronounced each word with a firm glare as she watched the brunette quickly pull herself up before the leader tossed the musket to Mio, who instantly caught it and leaned it against a tree trunk.

"Nodoka-ch-"  
>"You're too soft, Yui. You told me you wanted to become strong so you may fight these monsters that hide in the dark… how can you do that if you laze around all the time?" Nodoka yelled, interrupting the hurt voice that was about to speak as Yui stared at her friend in disbelief. "What do I need to do to motivate you?" Nodoka asked as she walked over to Ui and grabbed Yui's sword from her before tossing it onto the ground at the brunette's feet. "Tonight, I'm going to teach you a little lesson you desperately need to learn."<p>

Yui blinked in confusion and watched as a gust of wind blew by them once more before Nodoka pulled her sword out of its scabbard and turned quickly back towards the bewildered brunette.

"You're going to fight me Yui. I know you know sword fighting. You told me your father taught you before that unfortunate accident."

Now Nodoka was just poking at sores that had yet to close fully. Yui tried hard not to let it get to her; after all, Nodoka was her friend and nothing would change that. Yet bringing up such a hurtful memory caused anger to flare within her soul.

She bent down and grabbed the sword handle firmly with both hands before noticing the amused glimmer in Nodoka's eyes.

"You want to make sure what happened to you and Ui-chan doesn't happen to anyone else, correct?" Nodoka asked, not really expecting an answer from the now quiet brunette as she dragged the tip of the sword along the ground as she walked ever closer to Yui. "Then you have to toughen up. Don't trust anything, but don't rush head first into a fight. Can you do that Yui? Even if the enemy is smarter than you… a vampire… a strong vampire can read your mind Yui." Nodoka said as she got into a ready stance as she watched Yui carefully as she spoke her next words. "They'll use whatever you're hiding to get to you when they fight you, like how painful it must have been… about your parents."

"N-Nodoka-san." Ui whispered in a cautioned tone as she watched her sister's face become emotionless.

Nodoka also noticed this, but she kept digging into those wounds a little more, trying to get Yui fired up.

"They'll taunt you with your weakness Yui. Are you going to allow that?" Nodoka asked as she watched a shiver travel through Yui. "Are you going to allow them to talk about your dead parents that wa-"

Nodoka's eyes went wide as Yui charged at her, face devoid of all emotion except that of rage. There was a loud clang as metal met metal as Nodoka blocked the frantic sword swings from the enraged girl.

"Onee-chan! D-Don't-" Ui yelled out worriedly but was restrained by Mio who also watched fearfully.

"Don't Ui-chan, let them fight." The raven-haired girl said softly as Ui struggled slightly against her hold.

They watched as Nodoka skillfully dodged Yui's attacks and even blocked the sword swings that came close to nicking her.

"You're doing it again, Yui! You're charging in without assessing the situation!" Nodoka yelled disappointingly as she caught Yui's sword edge with the cross-guard and shoved the girl away forcefully, easily knocking her to the ground.

To her surprise, Nodoka watched as Yui rolled back to her feet before rushing forward once more. She lifted the sword over her head and brought it down only to once again meet Nodoka's blade.

"You're letting your emotions get to you Yui. You're not thinking straight and you're attacking out of rage, clear your mind!" Nodoka commanded as she parried the blade away once more, but this time slashed out and cut a thin hole in Yui's sleeve.

The brunette's eyes went wide and emotion made its way back into her face as she backed away to hold the sleeve, as if worried she had been cut. After checking for blood, Yui sighed in relief before she yelped out loudly as she blocked a sword swing from Nodoka.

"Now that you're back, block me!"  
>Yui panted out heavily as she dodged the well timed attacks from Nodoka's blade, each swing getting closer and closer to actually hitting her as she frantically moved to avoid the precise attacks.<p>

Yui watched in horror as the blade came close to burying itself into her side when she angled her sword and quickly parried it.

"Very good, Yui! Keep doing that!" Nodoka was finally smiling non-threateningly when she noticed Yui's brain finally working. The brunette was no long dodging but was blocking the swings with practiced ease. Then their blades met in a way that caused Nodoka to laugh softly as she twisted her blade around Yui's and made her lose her grip on it before flinging it a few feet away from her.

Yui, who was now out of breath and standing very still, watched her friend as she felt the very tip of Nodoka's blade against her raw throat.

"And now you're dead. But that's okay… you did very good Yui." Nodoka replied as she pulled the blade away and put it back in its scabbard once the battle was over.

Mio allowed Ui to run over to check and make sure her sister was okay while she watched silently from afar.

Yui relaxed and swallowed hard before she brought the back of her hand up to wipe away the sweat that drenched her face while closing her eyes tightly as she let the adrenaline diminish in her body.

She didn't get much time to move as she felt arms wrap around her and hug her tightly.

Expecting to see Ui, Yui opened her eyes and raised her arms to hug back, but then she noticed the dark brown hair in her face.

She blinked when she realized it was Nodoka hugging her tightly and she slowly put her arms around her childhood friend before she felt her friend's breath tickle her ear.

"I'm sorry I said those things Yui. I just wanted you to understand what you've gotten yourself into. Those monsters won't be as forgiving as me, but I really am proud of you. You can at least remember your father's training under intense pressure." Nodoka said as she pulled away and put her hands on Yui's shoulders before giving her a reassuring smile. "But I really am sorry I said all those things. I do feel bad about what happened… and that is after all why I offered to train you."

"I understand Nodoka-chan. I-I'm sorry I'm so emotional… and… lazy. I'll do better I promise." Yui said as she pulled away from the embrace.

"Good… we should probably head back now, it's dark." Nodoka replied as she looked up towards the night sky.

Yui looked up as well, amazed at how much time had passed while they were fighting. She smiled a little, happy with the fact that Nodoka was still her friend even if she was a bit harsh at times.

"Well now that you two are done with your little fight, let's head back so we can get some rest." Mio said as she walked over to the sack and bent down to pick it up when her stormy grey eyes caught sight of something off in the distance.

"Mio-san? Is everything okay?" Ui asked when she noticed the older girl had stopped moving. Ui followed her gaze and her eyes searched the area, trying to see what Mio saw before a slight grimmer of something shining in the bushes finally caught her eyes.

"Nodoka-san, Onee-chan, something's in the bushes." Ui called to the other two catching their attention as they quickly walked over.

Nodoka saw Mio's gaze and watched as the taller girl walked over to the bushes and carefully began to remove the branches. After some gentle movements and brushing the twigs off, Mio finally saw what was there.

"Nodoka, it's a spiker device. Similar to the one we use but… it has stakes in it." Mio said as Nodoka walked up beside her to run her fingers against the device. She felt heat radiating off it like it had been recently been fired.

"Only vampire hunters know how to make these devices… do you think there were people in town that were working the same as us?" Mio asked worriedly as Nodoka began to rub her chin in thought.

"I'm not sure Mio. But that isn't the point… the point is this was fired… and recently too. If it has stakes in it, maybe they were expecting vampires." Nodoka replied as she stood up and began to force her way through the brush to the front of the device so she could survey the area around for any signs of a struggle or fight.

Yui quickly followed, wanting to understand more about how to deduce what had happened; plus it was always interesting to see Nodoka get so insightful.

The brunette gasped softly once she cleared the brush when she saw Nodoka kneeling next to a small figure.

It was a young boy, not even ten yet if Yui had to guess, and he had a stake sticking through his back as Nodoka looked over him sadly.

"W-What happened… i-is he a vampire?" Yui asked as she slowly walked over and got down on her knees beside her friend as she watched Nodoka tilt his head, checking his neck for any marks.

"No, he was just an innocent boy… he must have wandered off from the village and stepped on the trap." Nodoka said sadly as she breathed out heavily before she stood up. "We should take his body back to the village, he hasn't been dead long. I'd say just a few minutes since his body is still warm. He still requires a proper burial."

Yui nodded understandingly as she frowned hard before looking around for the traps triggering plate.

Nodoka had taught her a little bit about how spiker traps work; you set up the actual device a few yards away from the actual triggering plate that way when the enemy steps on it, they won't know which way the spikes are coming from and it makes for an easy kill.

However, its times like these that she hates those machines; the boy was innocent and didn't deserve to die. Yui's eyes finally saw the plate a few feet away and she walked over to it and knelt down to find the wire that would trigger a second wave of stakes before she grabbed one of the wires and snapped it, making sure it wouldn't trigger again.

"There, Nodoka-chan I disarmed the…" Yui stopped midsentence when she noticed something very odd near the plate.

Blood.

She then noticed a large trail of blood heading off in the opposite direction of the boy.

Yui reached out and touched one of the puddles of blood, testing to see how recent it was and she gasped when she felt that it was still wet and still very warm.

"Nodoka… I don't think that boy was the only thing the stakes hit." Yui said worriedly as she got back up onto her feet and began to slowly follow the trail.

"Yui? What do you mean? Where are you going!" Nodoka yelled as she got up right as Mio and Ui pushed through the brush. "Mio please prepare this boy for transport, we're going to take his body back to the village. However, Yui's wandering off again I need to get her… so stay here and don't move. We'll be back." Nodoka instructed as she began to sprint after her friend.

Mio looked completely stunned, but she did as Nodoka told her and got down to pull the stake from the poor boy's body while Ui watched with great sadness in her eyes.

Soon though a smell drifted into Ui's noise that made her gasp softly before she turned towards the direction of the village.

"M-Mio-san, I think something's wrong at the village." Ui whimpered fearfully as Mio followed her gaze towards the reddish flare that now bathed the town before they were finally quiet enough to hear the screams.

"Oh no."

Yui followed the blood trail almost obediently through the brush, eyes never leaving the trail before it came to a point where the brunette actually had to survey her surroundings. She was now standing in front of a small cave where the blood trail still continued inside, but it was so dark that Yui could barely see two feet in front of her.

She swallowed hard and was about to step further inside when a hand grabbed her wrist tightly and so suddenly that Yui actually screamed at the top of her lungs before a hand muffled it.

"Holy mother in heaven, Yui! It's just me!" Nodoka hissed angrily as she kept her hand firmly over Yui's mouth. "You better hope whatever is in there is dead because you just gave away our position. Now I'm going to let go, and you better not scream again." Nodoka growled irritably as Yui nodded firmly against the hand.

Once Nodoka released her mouth, Yui watched as her friend walked over to a tree and began searching the limbs for something.

She found and broke off a very dead large branch before she put it on the rocks near the cave.

"What are you doing Nodoka-chan?" Yui asked as she watched her friend grab her gunpowder sack and poured a little near the end of the stick.

"Giving us light." Nodoka replied before grabbing two rocks and began striking them together.

Yui watched in amazement as the rocks sparked igniting the end gunpowder; that in turn set the end of the stick on fire making a torch.

Nodoka lifted the makeshift torch into the air and began walking into the cave, following the blood trail while being as quiet as possible while Yui followed closely behind, a hand on her revolver.

They didn't get very far before they noticed a figure lying limply against the cave wall and upon shining the light just right they noticed it was a young girl with long black hair that was tied in twin tails.

Yui gasped softly and she instantly ran to the girl's side ignoring the words of caution uttered by Nodoka.

"She's hurt! Nodoka-chan we have to help her!"

"Yui we're not-"  
>"Look at all this blood, and she's so cold… b-but she's still breathing! Quick maybe we can get Mio-chan to-"<p>

"Yui, shut up and listen to me!" Nodoka commanded causing Yui to snap away from the girl and look at Nodoka like she had just kicked a kitten, those eyes wide with confusion and hurt. "Look at her Yui. Look at her skin. Use your eyes and your brain for once."

Yui swallowed back tears that threatened to cascade down her cheeks as she turned back to survey the young girl's body.

She was certainly much paler then anyone she had seen before, but that could be because of the large stake sticking out of her shoulder that was stained and still dripping with her blood. And she looked pretty malnourished and sickly. She wore a dark spring green v-neck long-sleeve cotton shirt with torn tan work shorts, both were stained with the blood that was dripping down from the wound.

But then Yui's eyes finally locked onto the girl's neck.

There she saw the puncture holes.

Yui gasped softly and got to her feet quickly, moving away from the girl as fast as possible while Nodoka walked over to her and handed her the torch before she grabbed Yui's revolver out of her holster and aimed it at the girl.

Right as she pointed the revolver at the vampire, she began to come to before those deep red eyes stared lazily at the two hunters.

Yui watched as those eyes went wide with fear as she shot backwards against the damp cave wall before hissing in pain.

"P-Please… d-don't shoot me!" The young vampire pleaded; tears in the corners of her eyes, which startled both Yui and Nodoka.

"Nodoka-chan… do vampires cry?" Yui asked as she felt her body relax a little as she watched the vampire frantically pull at the stake in her shoulder while giving the two of them fearful looks.

"… I've… never seen one cry…" Nodoka mumbled numbly as she kept the revolver trained on the pained creature.

Yui's heart began to ache as she watched the vampire cower before them, shaking and crying softly while curling up into a tight ball as if trying to forget the pain it was in.

"P-Please… j-just l-leave me a-alone. D-Don't kill me… please." The vampire whined out before she tensed up greatly when she heard the revolver get cocked.

Just as the bespectacled girl was about to fire, Yui quickly reached out to grab hold of her friend's shirt sleeve to yank Nodoka's arm upwards making her shoot the ceiling of the cave before she stood between her friend and the vampire.

"Yui! What in God's name are you doing?" Nodoka yelled angrily as she watched Yui spread her arms, trying to shield as much of the poor creature as possible.

"This… this poor girl needs our help." Yui muttered as she turned her head slightly to see shock in those deep red eyes as the vampire uncurled itself to watch what was happening. "W-We can't just kill her."

"Are you insane?" Nodoka argued back as she aimed the gun at the vampire once more. "Move out of the way! That thing is dangerous!"

"This _thing_ is still human! She's crying and begging for life! How many vampires did you kill that begged for mercy? Huh?" Yui yelled back, determination in her chocolate colored eyes as she stood rooted to her spot.

Nodoka snarled loudly; Yui could see her gritting her teeth hard before she lowered the gun while giving Yui a look that even caused her to shudder in fear.

"Fine, help that thing if you want. If you get bitten though I…" Nodoka didn't even finish the sentence as she shook her head firmly and turned to sit on the rocks outside the cave.

Yui let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding in before turning her head back to the vampire and slowly, but cautiously, knelt down beside it.

"Don't worry," Yui said in the most tender voice she could muster under such an intense stare from the young vampire, "I'm not going to hurt you… but I need to get that stake out of your shoulder… it must be making you weak right? And it hurts? Will you let me?" Yui asked as she sat the torch down so she could use both hand to help the poor creature.

The vampire didn't seem to understand what she was saying at first but slowly, the twin-tailed vampire pulled her hands away from the stake and nodded slightly.

Yui smiled a little before reaching up to grab hold of the wooden weapon and inhaled deeply.

"This is going to hurt… I'm sorry in advance." Yui whispered once more before giving the stake a sharp tug; her stomach doing flips as she heard the disgusting noise of blood, bone, and muscle getting torn as she yanked the stake out of the vampire's shoulder.

The vampire let out a scream of pain before her hand instantly went up to clutch the now gaping hole, trying to stop the blood that was pouring out while she began to hyperventilate from panic.

"Sh sh shh…" Yui cooed as she looked around worriedly, trying to remember her training and study on vampires to try and figure out how to help her. She dug through her brain and memories for any piece of information she may have heard about vampires and their healing as worried eyes watched the vampire writhe in agony.

Finally, Yui gasped as she came up with an idea.

"Nodoka-chan! Throw me your dagger!" Yui yelled towards the entrance of the cave.

Thinking Nodoka didn't hear her, Yui was about to yell again when she watched as a small silver dagger was tossed through the air before it landed a few feet away from her.

Yui got up and grabbed the small weapon before quickly moving back to the vampire's side, putting a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down a little.

"Hey it's okay. Calm down, I know exactly what'll make you feel better." Yui said confidently as she felt the vampire slowly calm her thrashing before lying shakily against the cold cave wall while giving Yui a confused look as her cold clammy pale skin began to get paler.

The brunette held up her left hand and brought the dagger down against the tip of her index finger before pressing down firmly. She gasped in pain as she felt the blade pierce her fair skin and blood began to bubble through the cut as she pulled the blade away and held out her finger towards the vampire.

"It's okay to give you blood if I offer it right? That way it's not bad and you don't hurt me… just don't bite okay?" Yui asked as she gave the frightened girl a reassuring smile.

Yui watched panic flow back into those eyes and the vampire shook her head firmly.

"N-No… I… I don't want to… d-drink blood… I d-don't…"

Yui saddened as the vampire began to mumble to herself and refuse to drink the blood. Yui moved closer and put the finger a mere few inches away from the trembling lips as the young vampire once again shot her a fearful look.

"It's okay. It's not bad if I offer… please… you'll die if you don't." Yui begged the creature as she watched those dull eyes dart from the finger with the blood dripping from it back up to those kind eyes.

Finally after a lot of mental preparation, the vampire slowly opened her mouth.

Yui felt the hot breath against her skin before a silk tongue began to run over the wound cautiously. Yui was surprised the vampire was so worried about drinking her blood.

Weren't all vampires supposed to love blood?

Yui then began to blush heavily as she felt the vampire set her teeth slightly into the digit, not puncturing the skin but holding it firmly in place as she began to run her tongue more firmly against the wound, digging out as much blood as she possibly could while giving soft pleasant moans.

Once Yui got over the fact that this felt very suggestive, her eyes darted to the wound on the vampire's shoulder and witnessed the wound slowly begin to close up and stop bleeding as it scabbed over.

It wasn't long after that Yui noticed the vampire was now considerably calmer as she licked and sucked softly on the finger in her mouth before finally pulling away and that's when Yui saw the blush that was plastered on the vampire's face as well and her eyes were glowing a bright red.

"W-Well that helped now d-didn't it?" Yui stuttered as she laughed nervously after the rather embarrassing situation that had just passed.

The vampire nodded numbly before licking her lips trying to get any more blood that she may have missed before shooting Yui a strange look.

Her eyes were now half lidded and she looked to be calculating Yui very thoroughly before she sat up fully.

"U-Uh… Oh! I should introduce myself… my name is Hirasawa Yui… and you are?" Yui asked, deciding that she should at least be formal to the vampire she had just saved.

After a moment of silence the vampire leaned in slightly and pressed her cheek against Yui's, giving a slight nuzzle that startled the brunette since she wasn't expecting the affection.

Yui then gasped softly as she felt hot breath against her ear as the vampire purred out her response in a voice that made Yui's body tremble.

"My name is Nakano Azusa… I'm very pleased to meet you, Yui."

* * *

><p>Author Note: And now we finally get to see how and why Azusa suddenly becomes the S of the relationship in this story~ I had so much fun writing this chapter. O_O I mean so much fun. I never thought it would be so long either. XD And I wrote most of it all in one day, but it took several to make sure it made sense and wasn't rushed. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I did~<p>

Edit: Fixed Grammatical Errors. (Thanks Kyorihan!)

Beta note: I'm so tired of reading this chapter. XD I think I read it twice before I attempted to beta it. And even then I got halfway through before Wolfie sent me another version. More beta! Amg! –goes on vacation-


	3. Chapter 2: The Hunt Is On

The Hunt Is On

As soon as the blood touched her tongue, Azusa's mind went hazy. Thoughts of ecstasy and fulfillment filled the young vampire's mind as she began to lap languidly at the wound on the offered finger.

_W-What is this feeling. I didn't realize something so sweet existed in the world. Her blood…_

Soon those thoughts quickly took a sharp turn as the twin-tailed vampire set her teeth into the digit and began to lick the wound more firmly as the blood began to slow down. She could vaguely hear a soft gasp from the kind young woman as Azusa swirled her tongue around that finger.

_No. Don't stop. I need more. Please, this feeling… I can't lose it._

But soon, Azusa had to release the finger and lick her lips to see if she could find any more of that sweet blood before she heard the woman stutter and speak to her.

"W-Well that helped now, d-didn't it?" Yui stuttered as she laughed nervously after the rather embarrassing situation that had just passed.

Red eyes stared up into nervous chocolate as the vampire once again nodded before sighing with disappointment at not being able to locate anymore blood on her red lips.  
>She soon felt her eyes lid themselves as she looked over this kind and curious woman before the brunette began talking again.<p>

"U-Uh… Oh! I should introduce myself. My name is Hirasawa Yui and you are?" Yui asked, deciding to be more formal then before, which the young vampire found quite cute.

Azusa couldn't help but smile sensually as she leaned over and pressed her cold damp cheek against this Hirasawa Yui's cheek.  
>She heard a faint gasp as she brushed her lips against the very warm ear and breathed calmly against the flesh as she whispered her name.<p>

"My name is Nakano Azusa… I'm very pleased to meet you, Yui."

_This is… such a strange situation I am in right now._

Yui thought to herself as she felt the twin-tailed vampire continue to nuzzle her like an affectionate puppy. It wasn't so bad, the brunette mused to herself as she was about to embrace the young vampire in a gentle hug; she felt something different on her neck.  
>Her body tensed up and the blush on her face intensified as she felt moist cool lips against the base of her neck.<p>

_W-What t-the-!_

She put her arms on the ground and began to pull herself backwards to try and get out of the vampire's grip, but Azusa instantly followed and soon, Yui was pressed firmly up against a wall as those now sultry glowing blood red eyes stared up at her longingly.

The brunette opened her mouth to try and talk her new friend out of whatever she was thinking, but the words died in her throat as she felt those cool lips press against the pulse in her neck. Yui instantly tensed up thinking she was about to get bitten when she felt small calm puffs of breath against the damp sink.

Soon, the young woman let out several small whimpery moans as she felt teeth graze her skin as her back subconsciously arched towards the vampire's hands that were now slowly sliding up her shirt.

"A-Azusa… a-ah… y-you c-can n-n-nugh… s-stop n-now please?" Yui stuttered out softly, both trying to get Azusa to listen to her as well as not be loud enough for Nodoka to hear as she closed her eyes tightly as those lips trailed up to her ear once more. She knew if her childhood friend were to come checking up on them she would instantly kill the vampire for being so close to her, especially since her lips were so close to her neck.  
>In the young vampire's brain, the only thing she could think of was to thank this delicious morsel and she blocked out all other thoughts as her tongue slid out to trail lazily against the rim of Yui's ear.<p>

_She saved me. She gave me something so wonderful… so fulfilling. I need more. I need-_

Realization slapped her harder then anything she had ever felt mentally; those bright red eyes suddenly went wide as she removed herself from Yui's shaking form.

_W-What did I just doing! I… I'm an animal!_

Azusa quickly got to her feet, ignoring the sudden pain in the scabbed wound on her shoulder as well as the sudden concerned question from Yui before turning on her heels to run as fast as she could away from the very sweet and helpful woman.

"Azusa! Wait!" Yui yelled, but it was too late. The vampire had already sprinted off faster then anything she had seen before.

But she wasn't going to give up.

The brunette shook off the uneasy feeling pent up in her body as well as the ghost lips that she still felt on her neck before she took off after the vampire, also ignoring her friend and leader's yell as she ran past her.

"Yui! Don't you dar-" As she had disappeared from her sight, Nodoka turned her face towards the half moon in the sky and let out a frustrated yell before pulling Yui's revolver up and loading it before giving chase after her friend. "Yui, out of all the things to grow attached to, why did it have to be a vampire?" The older woman asked herself as she began sprinting in the direction of her stubborn friend.

She didn't get far when the bushes in front of her parted and her other two friends quickly blocked her way.

"Nodoka! There you are!" Mio yelled out as she and Ui quickly made their way over to their leader while panting softly, clearly out of breath from all the running they had been doing.

"What's wrong?" Nodoka asked once she noticed the look of panic on both her friend's faces.

"The village!" The young Hirasawa yelled out worriedly as she quickly handed Nodoka her musket. "The village is under attack, I could hear screams and smell smoke. We have to save them… i-is that my sister's revolver?" Nodoka's eyes widened at the question as she held up the Enfield Revolver before looking deep into those worried chocolate brown eyes.

"Where's my sister?"

"I'll find her, she ran off again," Nodoka explained trying to keep Ui from having a heart attack as well as intentionally not tell her that her sister just ran off after a vampire, "You two head to the village and help them. I know you're ready for this Ui, just follow Mio's lead and do what you do best, find somewhere high and out of sight…" Nodoka said firmly as she put a reassuring hand on Ui's shoulder. The pony tailed girl nodded before Mio placed a firm hand on Ui's shoulder to lead her towards the direction of the village.

"Be careful." Mio warned Nodoka before she and Ui ran off in the direction of the village.

Nodoka watched her friends and comrades run off to save the village while she turned back to the direction Yui ran off to and began sprinting through the forest as fast as she could.

_Yui, you better not be dead when I find you. For the love of God, please don't be dead._

* * *

><p>When Mio and Ui got to the village they could see bodies lying down in pools of their own blood while the screams were much louder now then before.<br>Ui quickly touched Mio's arm and pointed towards the bell tower that was in the middle of town, silently communicating her plan as she sprinted off towards the building while Mio went another way.  
>The ponytailed Hirasawa knew her job in the group well, her rifle, the .557 Snider-Enfield Rifle, was best to be used at far range. So she usually took the high places and she would protect her friend's back from whatever was trying to attack this village.<br>Ui's legs were aching from how much running she had been doing that day but thanks to her physical training with Nodoka, it wasn't as bad as it use to be. She quickly climbed the old stairs of the bell tower before pulling out her rifle right as she got to the top. This was the highest point in town and the youngest Hirasawa had a clear view of everything that was happening in the small village.  
>From what she could see, there were two humanoid figures quickly charging from one person to another. The brunette kept her rifle trained on it before noticing Mio running in the same direction.<p>

_Be careful Mio-san, those things aren't like the imps at all… please please please be careful._

As she ran, Mio pulled her twin Beaumont-Adams revolvers from their holsters, waking them up from their slumber for another fight. Her job was simple; make sure to distract the danger that was around so they would never find Ui.  
>When they began teaching the two Hirasawas how to fight, one thing Yui made Mio and Nodoka promise was to protect Ui. She was an amazing little sniper so the two older, more experienced, girls agreed to this.<br>A scream on Mio's left caused her to stop and quickly turned to view what was happening; her eyes quickly scanning her surroundings before falling on the creature. It was hooded and cloaked, obviously to keep its identity safe; however, its teeth and the blood dripping from its jaws gave it away.

A vampire.

Mio felt her body tense up once the creature finally noticed her and gave a loud hiss of rage before sprinting towards her at speeds the raven haired beauty wasn't ready for.  
>A fist shot out a caught her easily by the jaw smacking her to the ground. She grunted as her head bounced off the rocky dirt before she quickly rolled to avoid the vampire's foot as it tried to stomp on her to extinguish her life. A shot rang out through the town and instantly the vampire was yowling and clutching its shoulder as it began to look around for the source of the shot.<br>Mio used this time to quickly get up and pull a small satchel from her belt; she opened it slightly before tossing it into the face of the creature earning more yells of rage.

_Nodoka was right, garlic powder seems to be pretty effective against these things._

This time, Mio could tell by the voice that the vampire was female and as the hood fell backwards off her head, she could see black hair that was tied up in a bun. The vampire turned its red eyes to her once more and let out a snarling hiss before jumping over Mio's head to sprint away.

_Is it running away? Did I… oh no! UI!_

Mio quickly ran after the vampire as it charged towards the bell tower, heading to Ui's position.  
>The raven-haired woman had to stop it quickly before it got the chance to climb the old building. She aimed one of her revolvers at the creature's back, focused, then…<p>

Ui let out a yell of fear as she watched another vampire jump from the shadows and tackle Mio from the side, instantly knocking the older girl out. She then watched in confusion as the two creatures conversed for a moment before the black haired vampire pulled the hood back over her head and they both sprinted off out of the village, faster than she could reload her rifle.

_What just happened? Why did they leave so suddenly?_

Ui quickly pulled her rifle on her back and climbed down before rushing towards Mio's side and quickly helped her onto her back to check for any serious injuries. She noticed a small cut located on Mio's temple but other than that, the girl seemed unharmed.  
>Just as Ui was reaching to touch the wound, stormy grey eyes snapped open and Mio sat up quickly while touching at her forehead.<p>

"Ui? What are you doing down here? Did you kill the vampires?" Mio asked quickly as she fumbled around for her revolvers, which had bounced out of her hands when the other vampire tackled her.

"N-No, they ran off. When that other vampire came out of nowhere, it talked to the other one… I couldn't hear them so I don't know why, but they ran off in that direction." Ui said as she pointed towards the direction in which she saw the vampires flee from. Mio looked towards the forest before nodding a little as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Well… in any case, we should at least see if we can find survivors. I can't believe just two vampires were able to do all of this..." Mio whispered solemnly as she looked around at the still burning village.

Ui nodded a little before following Mio obediently to see if they could find anyone with more answers as to why this happened.

* * *

><p>Yui quickly fumbled through the thick brush of the forest, trying desperately to catch up with the wounded vampire while calling out to her every now and then. Even she didn't understand why she was running after something that could easily kill her, but her heart continued to ache for the wounded creature.<br>Yui was still human after all; even with what had happened to her and her sister, she still continued to see good in all things. Even those Nodoka said were damned. Of course she was still cautious, she still had her revolver on her-

The brunette felt her holster and her heart skipped a beat. Her gun wasn't there.  
>That's right; Nodoka took it when they first met the young vampire. Yui decided that for now, she'd just have to trust fate and hope the creature wasn't leading her away from her friend just to kill her.<br>Yui's ears caught the sound of leaves rustling to her left and made a sharp turn before shoving some branches out of the way to run towards the sound.

"AzusAH!" Yui yelped out as she felt, or didn't feel, her feet touch the ground.

Thankfully she felt someone grab her collar keeping her from tumbling over the edge of a cliff before being pulled back and dropped onto the grass.  
>Yui placed a hand over her heart and took deep gulps of breath as her adrenaline slowly ebbed out of her body from the near death experience as she quickly looked around for her savior.<br>She found herself staring at the cutest frown she had ever seen as Azusa crossed her arms and turned her head slightly to grumble.

"You should really be more careful… why did you run after me anyways?" Azusa asked as she averted her blood red eyes from the concerned chocolate irises.

"W-well for one, you're still hurt. We need to bandage that wound on your shoulder." Yui panted out as she slowly pulled herself to her feet while staring at the freshly opened wound located on the vampire's shoulder. "And you're kind… and obviously very confused about what you are. Were you recently turned? Don't vampires usually lose their memories of their past lives? Why did you retain yours?" Question after question kept popping out of the brunette's mouth while Azusa opened and closed her mouth trying to answer, but the vampire hunter's constant jibber caused the vampire to just puff up her cheeks and roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Yui!"

Azusa quickly turned to see a gun once again pointed at her, but this time she was staring down a large barrel of a musket. She visibly gulped as she heard the gun get cocked before Yui grabbed the gun and tilted it away from the stunned vampire.

"What did I tell you Nodoka-chan! Don't shoot her, she can probably help us! She remembers being human, so why do you keep trying to kill her!" Yui yelled furiously while Nodoka continued to keep her eyes trained on Azusa.

"Because Yui! I was trained to kill things like her! I know how deceitful they can be. How do you know she isn't trying to trick us?" Nodoka yelled furiously as Yui shifted back a little before looking at loss for words. She quickly began searching her mind, trying to pick her next words carefully but Nodoka didn't give her a chance to think as she continued her tirade.

"She is dangerous, Yui. New vampires are more dangerous than fully matured vampires. They are unpredictable and can become feral."

Azusa felt a great weight in her chest as she listened to Yui's friend scolding her for trying to help and wondered if she should just get killed, finally ending the madness here. After all, she was still very confused about her actions earlier and was wondering what brought on the sudden fondness for Yui. Maybe it was best she just… gave up.

Anything would be better then living this cursed life.

But Yui wouldn't allow it. The brunette stood rooted to her spot between Azusa and Nodoka as her eyes bore into her friend's, showing the confidence and courage Nodoka hadn't seen before in those eyes and it took Nodoka back.

"I don't know why I'm doing this Nodoka-chan but… I have a feeling okay? Please just trust me." Yui pleaded, trying her hardest to convey her feelings to that stoic façade of her friend.

Finally, both Yui and Azusa breathed a sigh of relief as Nodoka lowered her gun and growled softly once more as she placed the weapon on her back.

"Fine. But you listen very carefully to me, vampire," The words Nodoka said next felt very venomous even to Yui, "You put one foot out of line and you hurt any of them… I'll kill you where you stand. Do you understand me?" Nodoka asked firmly cause Azusa to nod as quickly as she could, understanding the full meaning behind those words.

Nodoka sighed irritably before shooting Yui a saddened and slightly disappointed look before turning towards the direction they want from.

"We have to go back to the village Yui. Mio said they were under attack… I want to make sure both her and Ui are safe."

"W-What?" The brunette's voice cracked a bit when she heard this and she quickly ran up to Nodoka's side and grabbed her hand. "They went by themselves? Why! Why did you let Ui go with just Mio? Why didn't you go with the-"  
>"Because I was busy making sure you didn't get yourself killed! Do you see what happens when you go running off? Now no more talking, we're going back to the village."<p>

Yui instantly went silent as Nodoka began jogging towards the village. Yui felt her chest tighten as she heard faint footsteps beside her as Azusa stood to her side.

"I'm sorry… seems I've caused you a great deal of trouble." The vampire whispered apologetically.

"No, I've always been trouble for Nodoka-chan. But since you're staying with us, please help us as best as you can and listen to what Nodoka-chan says. And I'll do the same for you… but for now I need to make sure my sister is okay." Yui replied firmly as she broke out into a sprint to follow her leader while Azusa followed her.

* * *

><p>The smell of blood drifted tantalizingly through the damp castle halls, inviting all its inhabitants to follow the sweet scent before screams of pain began to fill their brains. It was like music to their ears as they quickly gathered in the great hall to witness what was happening.<p>

Most of the creatures grinned and cackled at the display of violence as Akira kicked Jun clear across the room before her body hit the opposite wall, causing a small crack to appear on the grayish walls.

The vampires laughed loudly as Jun slowly pulled herself to her feet; blood dripping down from her temple. Jun was shirtless, but her body was wrapped in bandages that were coming off in places and stained with blood in others.

"What's the matter runt? Fight back! Make it interesting!" Jun heard one of the vampires jeer from nearby before pain struck her gut, making her double over before a knee slammed against her jaw, completely knocking her off her feet and back to the ground.

Jun's head reeled from the attack and the room spun as the outline of her vision turned a faint white as Akira stood above her.

The look in those blood red eyes showed no remorse for what she was doing. There was however a look of enjoyment in those eyes as she reached down with a clawed fist and grabbed her around the neck. Jun was sure those claws were covered in her blood before grunting as she was hoisted into the air and felt pressure on her throat. She began struggling violently to get out of Akira's grasp as she heard, through the pounding blood in her ears, the vampires around them laughing at her pain.  
>It was humiliating how they treated her.<br>Most of Jun's body was also covered from blood that had been dripping from a wound in her head as well as her mouth before she was tossed unceremoniously onto her front and the pig-tailed vampire gasped for air as she fumbled to pull herself back up. But she heard Akira snarl out before bringing her claws down into her vulnerable back.

Jun arched her back, feeling the claws deep into the sensitive skin as she let out another scream of agony as searing pain traveled through her body before a sharp kick to her side ended the noise.  
>The <em>runt<em> laid limply on her side, dulled red eyes staring at all the grinning toothy faces before she watched as the Vampire King strolled up to her body; his maroon eyes stared down at her amusingly.

"Little Jun…" He said with a click of his tongue before motioning Akira to move away from the fallen vampire before he knelt down next to her.  
>It was now deafeningly quiet in the great hall as the other vampires watched, curious what he might do to the runt.<br>"Do you realize just how disappointed I am in you?" The Vampire King whispered as he reached out to stroke a clawed finger against her cheek, causing a shiver to travel through her slowly healing body.  
>His touch was always cruel, no matter how much he tried to lie and act sweet and caring.<p>

"Do you even begin to comprehend the damage you did when you lost my precious gem?"

Jun choked out a soft whimper as she felt him drag his claw near her top lip and tapped it while humming to himself as she remained silent.  
>She was in a lot of trouble as it was; speaking would only make things worse.<p>

"I gave you a simple task of showing her how to be a vampire and to feed her… yet you couldn't even do that could you?"

Jun felt pain blossom in her lips as he sliced a thin cut down both of lips.  
>It would scar, just like the others…<p>

"But I am a forgiving father," Jun heard him say as he stood up, easily towering over her as her bones began to shift within her body as they began to mend themselves, causing her to roll onto her back, whining in pain while the cuts and bruises slowly began to disappear; at least one ones not inflicted on by him, "I'll give you one last chance to redeem yourself in my eyes, Jun. But this is the _last_ time." He put emphasis on a choice word before he snapped his finger and Akira gripped Jun's arm, tugging her up before she was handed her shirt.  
>The pig-tailed vampire repressed another whimper of pain before tugging her shirt on without the help of anyone as the Vampire King turned to a small group of vampires, pointing towards them.<p>

"Himeko, Nobuyo, and Ichigo. I want you to go with her and make sure she brings my little gem back." He declared before a grin made its way back onto his face. "And if she hinders your process any… kill her."

Himeko giggled a little as Nobuyo rubbed her red eyes while the new curly haired vampire, Ichigo, remained silent but they all bowed respectfully before the rest of the vampires went back to their business now that the torture was over.

Jun whimpered out painfully as she grabbed her arm and snapped it back into place before letting out a sigh of relief as the pain lessened considerably. She shot Akira a glare that was easily returned as the vampire followed her master obediently.

"Okay _runt_, are you done licking your wounds yet? We should get ready and go as soon as possible if you want to avoid getting another beating." Nobuyo stated as Jun pulled her belt onto her waist before popping her neck a few times while turning around to face the three older vampires.

"I wouldn't be talking Nobuyo," Himeko hissed as she smirked a little at the still red eyes of her vampire companion, "your eyes are still red from the garlic powder the vampire hunter threw in your face."

"Shuddup." Nobuyo grumbled irritably as they walked towards the large wooden doors to go on their hunt for the precious gem.

Jun followed silently, not feeling up to talking just yet. After all, these vampires would rather kill her than let her get in their way and she needed to find Azusa.  
>She had to warn her.<p>

But…

_Where did you wander off to…?_

* * *

><p>By the time they got to the village, people were already working on the damages done by the attackers.<p>

Nodoka could see people mourning over dead bodies while she eyed the large chunks of flesh missing on the necks of the victims.  
><em>More vampires.<em> Nodoka thought bitterly as she grabbed a cloak off the ground and quickly walked over to Azusa and before Yui could react she watched as her friend draping the hooded cloak around the vampire before pulling the hood over her head.

"Keep your face hidden…" Nodoka commanded as Azusa gave her a confused look before her nose caught the scent of blood. She quickly put a hand over her mouth and nose to quell an urge that honestly scared the young vampire. "Vampires did this. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it do you?" The bespectacled leader asked.  
>Azusa nodded a little as she avoided looking at the bodies to keep that urge from returning as she whispered out in a shaky voice.<p>

"T-There were thr… two other vampires that were t-trying to teach me how to feed… but I didn't want to so they went off by themselves." Azusa had to lie in order to not give away the fact that there was a third vampire that she truly didn't want to be hurt. She wondered what happened to Jun and if she was all right. Her thoughts were disrupted as Nodoka relieved sigh while Yui gave a happy gasp.

"Ui!"  
>Azusa watched as the brunette practically tackled a girl similar to her, but had her hair up in a ponytail.<p>

"Onee-chan!" Ui cried out as she returned the enthusiastic hug as Mio walked towards Nodoka and Azusa, those stormy grey eyes just as calculating and sharp as their leader's.  
>Azusa quickly pulled the hood further over her face to hide how pale she was while she listened intently to Mio and Nodoka's conversation.<p>

"Two vampires attacked this village from what we saw."

"Just two? And this much damage?"

"They weren't feral Nodoka but they were out to cause chaos. From what Ui saw from her point on the bell tower, it seemed once I was knocked out they ran off in the direction off to the north."

"They knocked you out but didn't feed on you?" Nodoka seemed taken back by this information. They killed so many people so why not kill the vampire hunter that was trying to kill them?

"Hai, while I was chasing one of the vampires, the second one jumped out of no where and knocked me unconscious. I was able to catch a glimpse of its cloak though. It was different then the other's. It was a dirty dark brown."

Azusa's eyes went wide as memories from the castle came soaring back to her mind.

Jun wore an old dark brown cloak.

"Compared to the one I was originally chasing, it seemed to be a hand me down… meaning there could be more vampires than we thought," Mio stated before she turned her head to Azusa, raising an eyebrow a little before whispering to her bespectacled friend, "by the way who is that?"

Nodoka blanched slightly, her whole body tensing for a moment. She quickly coughed into her hand and smirked a little before shooting the small vampire a glare.

"I'll tell you who this is later. Right now we need to get our things and leave this village as soon as possible."

"I understand Nodoka. I'll go grab the rest of our things from the bedroom at the inn." Mio replied as she turned on her heels and began to walk towards the inn, which remained untouched by the chaos.

"Wait a moment Mio!" Nodoka called out before turning to Azusa. "Go with her and carry our things. If you're going to stay with us you may as well make yourself useful… but don't show yourself to her. And don't talk. Do I make myself clear?"

Azusa sighed at the still hostile tone in Nodoka's voice but nodded respectfully and quickly caught up with Mio to follow her.

Mio regarded Azusa briefly before leading the smaller girl to their bedroom.  
>"Now I know Nodoka told you to carry our stuff, but it's a bit heav-" Before Mio could even finish her sentence, she watched in awe as the tiny girl lifted the two heavy traveling bags over her shoulders and began walking towards the door.<br>Mio was stunned that a girl smaller than Yui could handle the bags so easily, but she decided it had something to do with what Nodoka would tell her later, so she silently followed Azusa; staying close behind her just in case she did need help.

"Good, you got both of them. As I expected." Nodoka said once she saw Azusa come out of the inn followed closely by Mio. The bespectacled leader motioned with her head towards the north. "We're leaving now; the sun is about to rise and we need to find someplace safe to rest…" As she said this her eyes shifted to Azusa and blood red met dark brown.  
>Azusa felt a shiver travel down her spine; those eyes were so cold and uncaring towards her. Of course, she didn't blame Nodoka.<br>The twin-tailed vampire was still unsure about what had happened to her mind and body after her first taste of Yui's blood and as she followed the small group of hunters the mere thought of that sweet liquid on her lips brought a tremor in her tiny body.

And it scared Azusa.

She hoped she could figure out just what was happening to her before it got any worse.

* * *

><p>"The sun's about to come up… we should find a cave and wait till night time." Nobuyo hissed as she noticed the horizon turning a faint blood red as she stopped on a tree branch high above the ground.<p>

Himeko landed near her and those same red eyes began to scan the area while letting out a frustrated sigh.

"You'd think there would be a cave of some sort around… we passed three of them coming this wa-"  
>"Over here." Came the emotionless voice of Ichigo from below the others. Himeko was surprised to see that the curly haired vampire had found a small underground cave under some bushes and she began slowly descending the slick walls.<p>

"It's big enough for us all. We will continue our search later." Ichigo stated, letting her voice echo back up to the others.  
>"Good, I can't stand the sunlight…" Himeko purred out as she too began crawling into the cave.<p>

Jun leaped down from the tree branch and stumbled a bit as Nobuyo pushed her out of the way while giving her a snarl.  
>"You should continue searching for her," Nobuyo growled as she blocked Jun's way into the cave, "It was your fault you lost her in the first place. You should have to bear the sunlight's burn in order to redeem yourself."<p>

Jun frowned at this but she gave a soft nod while the black haired vampire laughed cruelly in her face.  
>"Have fun roasting, runt." With that said, the slightly larger vampire giggled her way into the underground cave as Jun looked up at the ever-brightening sky.<br>She quickly pulled out some extra cloth and tucked it around her face under the hood so just her eyes were showing and she quickly made sure none of her skin was showing. She tilted the hood down and continued running through the forest to look for a safer spot to wait for the sun to get high in the sky.

_As long as the sun isn't pointing towards my face I should be fine… I'll be able to find Azusa a lot faster this way… and it won't be as dangerous since I'll be alone._

Soon, Jun found small cave that would work to shade her from the sun for a while and she slowly sat down on the cold ground before pulling her hood off to survey her surroundings.  
>There were a lot of bushes around the cave to keep her hidden from the sun and wandering travelers. Not to mention it was pleasantly cool in this tiny cave; enough to soothe the aches in her body from the recent torture she had to endure earlier.<br>The pig tailed vampire slowly closed her eyes and took a deep inhale of breath to calm herself down as well as try to rest for a little bit before continuing her search.

_I hope you're still alive Azusa. You aren't like the others yet… and if I find you I'll make sure you stay that way…_

* * *

><p>Author Note: I had to rewrite this a few times because it kept coming out weird. I was going to write more, silly Beta. Anyway, so I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, but not as much as the next… the next is were it gets even better and more character development happens. Fufufu~<p>

Beta Note: Is that all you're writing for an author note? Fine! So your author loves run-on sentences. The record for this chapter was 60 words. :D


	4. Chapter 3: Blood Pact

Blood Pact

"Nodoka?" Mio muttered as she quickly caught up with their leader while the sisters and their new friend lingered behind. "We haven't slept in two days, we should rest now. I mean we are far enough away from the village."

Nodoka regarded her raven-haired friend's advice with a sideways glance. She was right; they hadn't slept in two days and she could tell it was taking its toll on Ui and Yui. But that wasn't the only issue she was worried about. Azusa needed to get out of the sunlight before it actually hit her. The bespectacled leader was actually only slightly worried what would happen if the young vampire was caught in the sun's rays. Besides, this area was perfect for them; it was covered by a lot of tall trees and it looked like they were going to be right near a large outcrop of land that would serve as a outlook for Ui.

"You're right, Mio. I guess we can stop for now. Let's set up the tent quickly." Nodoka stated as she stopped and motioned to the vampire to drop their things.

Azusa put down the two travel bags as well as the sack that Yui had carried the day before. Mio was still very surprised that someone so small could carry so many large things at once. She was about to comment on it when realization suddenly hit her.

"Why are we putting up the tent? It's not raining-"  
>"I'll tell you why after we put it up, we don't have much time." The leader interrupted her friend quickly as she grabbed the sack and pulled out the tent equipment. "Ui, help me with the tent. Yui and Mio set up the futons."<p>

The girls nodded and got to work while Azusa watched curiously. She was amazed by the sheer commanding presence Nodoka gave off that drove the small group of friends to work. It was interesting seeing the tent get put up quickly while watching Yui set up the futons. Then those blood red eyes quickly turned to look at Mio, watching as the raven-haired woman wandered into the forest to grab some twigs and small branches for their fire.

Azusa was a bit jealous that she didn't have any friends like these people; they all seemed to understand each other, despite differences in some arguments and they did work well in a small area.  
>Before the young vampire could think anymore on the subject, her forehead began to feel warm.<br>Blinking in confusion, Azusa lifted her hand to touch the skin only to yelp out as her hand began to burn as well.

Nodoka noticed the yelp and quickly shot up to her feet once the tent was secured and she led the young girl to the shelter before pushing her inside.  
>"Stay in there while I talk to the others. I know for a fact Mio will have issues with you." Nodoka hissed as Azusa felt the burning sensation go away from her face once she was no longer standing outside. It dawned on her that the sun was touching her when she was standing out there and that was why Nodoka had the tent set up; so she wouldn't die.<br>Nodoka closed the tent flaps before placing a black sheet over top of the tent to help keep out more of the sun before turning to the curious looks of Ui and Mio.

"I'm worried Nodoka." Mio stated as she eyed the tent after what she just witnessed. Ui looked equally as concerned while Yui walked towards the tent slowly.

"Stay where you are Yui, you're not allowed to go into that tent." The leader growled out causing the brunette to stand rooted to her spot.

Nodoka then turned her gaze to her two friends and sighed softly.  
>"Last night when we found the trap and the dead boy, Yui noticed a trail of blood leading away from the area the boy was in. What she found at the end of that trail was something I never thought I'd have to… allow to live." Nodoka said firmly causing Mio to raise an eyebrow while Ui continued to shift her eyes back from her sister to her leader. "Yui found a wounded vampire. It was a small young girl in a past life, but now… she is this monster. But Yui saved it from death and now it's here with us."<p>

"What! You mean that thing in there is-" Before Mio could fully go on her tirade Nodoka held up her hand to silence the fuming woman before continuing.

"I know you're upset about this, but Yui won't let me touch her or even get near her without protecting her."

"That's because I have faith that this poor girl. She remembers her human life Mio-chan!" Yui yelled out furiously finally unable to take staying silent any longer.

"B-But Onee-chan," The young Hirasawa mumbled out, looking very pale at the information they just got, "Mother and Father… they were killed by-"

"I know! I know…" The brunette cried out as she banished the memories of that night from her mind as she shook her head. "Just hear me out okay… please… I know this is crazy and she could be waiting to kill us, but we'll sleep during the day and travel at night that way she won't be able to come out of the tent to hurt us."

Nodoka let out a breath of irritation while rolling her eyes before shooting her comrades a worried glance.

Mio's stormy grey eyes were filled with rage as she stared the oldest Hirasawa down. Her fists were clenched tightly to her side while her body shook with angry tremors.  
>Ui, on the other hand, was shaking as well, but Nodoka was sure it was out of fear and worry for her sister's rash decision.<p>

Yui also noticed the worried look in her sister's eyes and she quickly walked over to the younger girl and grabbed her hands tightly before offering her a small smile.  
>"Ui, you trust me right? You know I would never do anything without thinking of our safety first…" Yui muttered softly as she tried to convey her feelings through her words. "But I have a really good feeling about this. She could help us find the clan." Mio and Nodoka's eyes went wide.<p>

"Yui, that's… actually not a bad idea." Nodoka said as a small smile graced her lips.

Yui grinned when she saw that her friends were beginning to understand her actions.  
>"See, all we have to do is trust her, if she remembers her human life before this one that means she probably hates what she has become… we can help her by killing the vampire that turned her and in turn she help us find the clan and we can kill the Vampire King."<p>

For the first time in two days, Nodoka actually felt proud of her childhood friend for actually thinking something like this through. Earlier, back at the cave when they first found the wounded vampire, she could have sworn that Yui did what she did out of the kindness in her heart. Which was most likely true, but this was still a good plan.

"The bounty on his head is enough that we'll be able to pay off our debt to the order." Nodoka heard Mio mumble as she nodded her head slightly. "But Nodoka? Keeping a vampire this close… is that really a wise decision?" The raven-haired woman asked worriedly.

"It really isn't, but that's Yui's full time job now."

"E-Eh? B-But-"  
>"You wanted to help her Yui," Nodoka said firmly as she smirked a little, "And now she is your responsibility."<p>

The brunette pouted slightly and rubbed the back of her head nervously while glancing towards her sister once more.  
>"Are you okay with this Ui? I know since what happened with our parents… I just don't want you to feel like you have to be nice to her but-"<p>

"No no, Onee-chan! I fully support what you're doing. And who knows… maybe she isn't like the rest of them." Ui replied as she offered her big sister a smile before she was pulled into a hug.

"Ui!" Yui yelled happily as she began to affectionately rub her cheek against her sister's.

"Okay okay, enough of this sibling love. We have to gather supplies." The leader said as she turned to the gunslinger.

Mio blinked in confusion and gave her friend a confused look.

"Why? Are we planning on staying here a few days?" Mio asked.

"Yes," Nodoka stated as she grabbed her musket and turned to her friend with a small smile, "we need to go hunt down some meat. That should keep the vampire happy and Ui could you do us a favor and go fishing?"

"Of course, Nodoka-san. I'll do that." The markswoman replied as she walked over to one of the traveling bags and began to look through it for some string and a hook.

Yui looked around as she watched everyone get ready to leave as she turned her head to her friend and leader.  
>"What should I do Nodoka-chan?"<p>

"Stay here and keep an eye on your new friend. But if I get back and you've got any new wounds on you, she's not going to be alive much longer." Nodoka growled softly before she motioned with her head to Mio and the two of them made their way through the forest out of the brunette's sight.

"Onee-chan, please be careful while I'm gone." Ui said as she came up behind her sister and gave her another firm hug before she felt her sister turn to return the embrace.

"Of course, Ui. I'll be fine. Go on and get some yummy fish for us." Yui purred out happily as she shooed her sister away, causing the younger to laugh softly as she walked out of sight as well.

Soon it was just Yui was alone. Alone with the vampire she had saved.

"You're in debt with the Holy Knights?" Came a soft question from the tent that Yui almost didn't hear because it was so quiet.

"E-Eh? Well… kind of." The brunette replied as she walked a little closer to the tent before sitting down next to the entrance. "Nodoka-chan isn't because she was born into the order, but the rest of us are kind of in debt to the order." Yui said as she felt the worry leave her as she started talking with the young vampire.

"I see… my father was part of the order, but he stopped once my mother had me. I don't really know if that was the reason he quit, but I know that is part of the reason." Yui heard Azusa say and those chocolate eyes went wide.

"Your father was part of the order! That's amazing, are you going to find him-"  
>"He's dead."<p>

Yui instantly put a hand over her mouth and her heart sank when she heard the broken voice call out again.

"H-He died the night I was turned… he died trying to protect me. And I don't even know what happened to my mother. I highly doubt she or anyone else in that village is alive…"

The brunette felt horrible. She could practically feel the pain radiating off from the tent and she wanted nothing more than to comfort the young vampire. But she was torn between obeying Nodoka and her own heart.  
>"Ne, tell me more about your family… what did you do with them?" Yui asked as she moved a little closer to the tent flaps.<p>

"You really want to k-know? Y-You're not just… keeping me as a prisoner?"

The older Hirasawa laughed softly at the silly question.  
>"Of course not! You're just supposed to stay in there so the sun doesn't burn you. Vampires are very sensitive to sunlight, didn't you know that?"<p>

"A-Ah… I suppose so. I just keep thinking of myself as a human… which I'm not anymore. You should have just killed me and I wouldn't have to be reminded of that fact."

Yui couldn't take it anymore; she wanted desperately to soothe such a tortured soul that she grabbed the tent flaps and took a deep breath.  
>"Move away from the opening Azusa-chan, I'm coming in."<p>

"Wha-"  
>"Do as I say."<p>

The brunette could hear shuffling around and cloth being moved before she heard a muffled "okay" from within the tent.  
>Yui opened the tent up and crawled inside before clothing the flaps tightly. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and fell onto the small figure that was curled up in the very back of the tent with her cloak covering her entire body.<br>The older Hirasawa almost laughed, but instead chuckled and moved closer to the covered up vampire.  
>"You can come out now, no sunlight is going to burn you." Yui purred out soothingly as she cautiously touched Azusa's back, feeling the muscles tense up as the young vampire pulled the hood off of her head to the two could stare at each other. "See, nothing to be afraid of."<p>

The twin-tailed vampire nodded before she kept the cloak around her body while eyeing Yui curiously.  
>"You really should kill me, Hirasawa-san. I'm dangerous and I… I don't even know where the clan is." Azusa whispered softly now that Yui was in close proximity she felt unclean and tainted; like she shouldn't be in the eyes of someone so kind.<p>

"Please, call me Yui! I don't think we need to be so formal."

"… Okay Yui. If that's the case, then please just call me Azusa."

Yui smiled more at this as the vampire uncurled herself from the cloak and stretched out her limbs a little as she turned her eyes back to the brunette.  
>"Tell me more about yourself, Azusa. Was your father a very noble man? What did your mother do? What did you do for that matter? When I was young I lived in a village that made its living selling milk and other food products." The talkative brunette said as she clasped her hands in her lap as she wiggled a little closer to Azusa. "And we lived close to the order's castle too! That's how I met Nodoka-chan! She didn't use to be this rough, you know. We use to play all the time when we were younger."<p>

The vampire couldn't help but smile as Yui talked a mile a minute, telling her all about how she became a vampire hunter and how she was happy to have such good friends even though they were much more experienced in hunting then she was.  
>"But I don't care! I'll get better! I just know I will. Then I-I'll keep everyone safe." Yui quickly said as she felt tears in her eyes again, but this time she shook her head firmly to rid herself of the horrible feeling that was crawling into her chest again.<p>

Azusa was touched by the words of the human that saved her. She never knew someone so kind and righteous lived like this and she was fortunate enough to meet them.  
>"You want to know more about me Yui?" Azusa asked, trying to change the subject since she could see the brunette struggling with something deep inside herself. Those chocolate eyes looked up a little before a smile stretched her cheek muscles and she nodded firmly.<p>

"Oh! Yes please, I want to know everything."

"I'll start my answering your questions then. Yes, my father was very noble after all, he was a Holy Knight so he was brought up to be respectful. After he left the order, he and my mother went to protect a village a few miles away from the castle." Azusa replied as she lay on her back to stare up at the top of the tent. "My mother didn't do much except take care of me, cook and clean. My father did most of the work in the village. He was almost like a mayor. But while we were there… w-while he was still alive, my father taught me all about how to defend myself in case something b-bad happened."

Yui felt her brow crease in sadness as she looked down at the young vampire almost gasping when she saw tears in her eyes.

"A-Ah, don't cry Azusa! W-We'll help you avenge them. After all we have a common enemy too. You may be a vampire now but if we can kill the vampire that turned you, at least then you'll be a free vampire." The brunette stated firmly as she reached out, compelled by the sadness she felt, and started caressing Azusa's cheek with her hand. "There there… it's okay." Yui purred out as she brushed away the tears with her thumbs.

Azusa tried her best to keep the tears in, but she missed her family terribly and she wished she could just forget how her father died. Images of that night kept flashing within in her mind of what happened every time she closed her eyes.

"Ouch!"

Azusa's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly as Yui retracted her hand like she had been bitten.

"Are you okay! What happe-"

The vampire's eyes became dilated as she noticed the cut on the brunette's finger had reopened. The blood was bubbling to the skin and dripping down Yui's palm as the airhead pouted.

"The cut reopened, owwie. I'm okay Azusa."

"A-Ah, Y-Yui… mmph…" Azusa looked to be trying to control herself as those red eyes watched the blood as while the oldest Hirasawa looked around for something to wrap it with. "I-I can fix that for you Yui… if you want. I-I'll make it better." The vampire whispered, her voice suddenly sounding a lot more sultry and those eyes were glowing once again.

"Huh? You will? B-But-" Yui remembered what happened last time. Something had changed in Azusa for a brief moment when she tasted the blood and it scared Yui to think it might happen again.

"It'll get infected if you don't do something soon. Let me Yui."

Finally the brunette gave up and extended her finger towards the vampire once again.

"Fine… just don't hurt me okay?" Yui asked softly as she closed her eyes.

She could feel the vampire's cold hand wrap around her wrist and tug the hand closer. Soon a warm silk tongue began lapping at her palm before licking up the blood trail to the finger. Yui let out a soft whimper as she felt warm enclose her finger as Azusa sucked, licked and sighed against the wound. It still felt weird to have someone licking her finger like this.

Yui blushed deeply when she noticed the look of pure ecstasy on the vampire's face as she continued to run her tongue along the wound.

Yui was about to pull away when the vampire moved closer, putting her arms tightly around the brunette's waist to pull her close. Their bodies were now flushed together as Azusa slowly opened her eyes to stare up into Yui's with…

Was that longing?

Yui gulped softly and her face went even redder.

"A-Ah, A-Azusa?" That look made her uneasy. But before Yui could try and remove herself from Azusa's embrace she felt the vampire release her wrist. Relief washed over the brunette as she smiled nervously at the vampire.

_This is the part where you let me go Azusa, right?_

Yui thought as she put her hands against the vampire's shoulders and went to push, but then she felt Azusa shoot upwards so fast that her brain didn't even register the feeling against her lips.

Chocolate eyes became wide and a startled muffled gasp left her mouth as she felt Azusa's moist lips against her own.

_S-S-S-She's kissing me!_

Yui tried once again to remove herself, but a sharp nip to her lower lip caused her to yelp out against the kiss before a tongue slid its way into the confines of her mouth.

Azusa's lips, tongue and saliva tasted coppery and was a bit unpleasant at first as she swirled her tongue almost expertly against Yui's.

The brunette tried hard to keep an iron will and pull away from the kiss, but something in the back of her mind urged her to continue. It felt like a low hum that told her nothing bad would happen if she just let go.

Another swirl of the vampire's tongue against her own caused her brain to go numb and she was effortlessly pushed onto her back while Azusa moved to straddle her.

The twin-tailed vampire wasn't very conscious of what she was doing as she swung a leg over Yui's waist. Her hands began to work on those buttons of the reddish pink vest the brunette had on.

Neither one of them seem to notice just how brightly Azusa's eyes were glowing, for neither of them were in the right state of mind.

The young vampire pulled away from the kiss and gave a soft hiss of pleasure as she leaned in to inhale the sweet living scent of Yui. She could almost hear just how fast the brunette's pulse was and it was intoxicating. Her mouth almost watered as she brought her lips near that vulnerable neck before dragging her tongue against the flesh to taste the sweat dripping off Yui's nervous body.

Now that her lips were free of the kiss, Yui let out several soft gasps as she felt hands roam her body feeling every inch of her through the thin cotton undershirt. Those cool hands gliding up her stomach and over the mounds before retracing her steps once Yui arched to the touch.

Once the brunette's brain slowly caught up with what was happening to her body, Yui sat up to try and push Azusa off her.

"A-Azusa! W-We shouldn't be d-doing this! I-If Nodoka-chan comes back and sees t-this a-a-aaah…" Yui's words died in her throat as she felt lips wrap around her earlobe while hands urged her to lie back down.

Azusa almost chuckled to herself when she heard the brunette mumble incoherently as her hands slid down to the hem of her savior's shirt. The vampire was shivering with excitement, her senses heightened to the extreme and all she wanted was to continue feeling this ecstasy. Thoughts meant nothing as she leaned in once more and grinned down at the brunette.  
>"You taste delicious Yui… so delicious I just can't help myself by want to taste you everywhere…"<p>

_Is that my voice? N-No w-wait a moment… t-this isn't…_

"A-Azusa… p-please… w-w-we shouldn't-"  
>"Don't worry Yui. I'll be quite gentle."<p>

_This isn't me! STOP IT!_

Yui felt her shirt get lifted slowly, cool air caressing her bare skin as it was raised even higher.  
>"A-Azusa! I want you to stop!"<p>

The commanding voice that the brunette suddenly let forth caused Azusa's eyes to snap open and her hands to retract from the shirt as if she had been burned by the sunlight.  
>Yui blinked in confusion once she felt the touches and kisses stop all together and she turned her head to stare into wide confused eyes.<br>They both seemed at a loss for words at what just happened. Azusa felt unstoppable, why did she all of a sudden stop?

* * *

><p><em>Red eyes scanned the area around her; she knew she was dreaming again because now it was nighttime. The moon was bright in her dream as always and she was standing near a beautiful lake. The water was so still that it almost looked like glass.<em>

"_Please…"  
>That voice again. It was so angelic and serene yet she knew what was coming next.<em>

_She watched as the girl appeared out of nowhere like the mist that surrounded the lake. She was pale and beautiful, with short brown hair that came to just her shoulders._

"_Who are you?" The one viewing the dream asked as she wades into the water towards the young brunette._

"… _Save me?" The brunette spoke._

_She always watched in terror as that angelic body suddenly became drenched in blood that somehow instantly turned the lake a deep red._

_The viewer feels her pulse speed up as she covers her mouth and nose to keep herself in check, trying not to fall to her animal instincts she had been denying for years._

"_I-I can't help you, I'm a monster! I-I'll just…"_

"_Please help me." The voice calls out again as the girl wades through the water over to the viewer, bloodied hands reaching out as if urging her to take it._

_The viewer reaches out as well, their fingertips barely touching-_

Eyes snap open and a hiss escapes Jun's lips as she felt her hand close around air.  
><em>Just that dream again.<em> Jun thought as she allowed the grogginess the lift itself from her body. The small nap she took allowed her to feel more alert and aware of her surroundings. The first thing Jun noticed was the sun was high in the sky so she deduced it must have been afternoon by now, but another wave of relief washed over her when she realized it was slightly cloudy out as well.

_Fortune must be smiling down on me, for the first time in a long time. Azusa must have been the turning point. Anyway, I should get going._

Jun lifted herself up from her position on the ground and rolled her shoulders a little to get the stiffness out of them before pulling her hood back over her face. She began sprinting towards the village they were at last night. There had to be some clue as to where her friend disappeared.  
>She would have continued running if something reflecting light hadn't stopped her. Curious red eyes stared in awe at a small silver necklace that was caught on a bush to her left.<br>Eyes went wide when she noticed the small cat pendent shimmering as well.

"This is…" Jun lifted her clothed hand and pulled the necklace free from the bush while smiling a bit. "This will help, now I can find her and return this to her." Jun muttered to herself as she lifted the pendent to her nose and inhaled deeply. When she opened her eyes next they were glowing faintly and her vision darkened just slightly. It always felt weird to channel the vampiric magic through herself, but she had to. It was all to find Azusa. Her magic finally seemed to pinpoint were the other vampire was and a smoky trail appeared in her darkened vision.

_Wait for me Azusa, I'll find you yet._

With that final thought Jun took off running once more, following that faint smoky mist towards the direction the _scent_ was taking her.

* * *

><p>They sat in awkward silence just staring at each other trying to figure out what just happened.<p>

"Uhm… Are you yourself again Azusa?" Yui asked worriedly, eyeing her vampire friend cautiously. She watched as Azusa fidgeted a little while looking down to blushing heavily.

"Y-yes, I-I'm so sorry Yui. I have no idea what came over me." The twin-tailed vampire croaked out as she placed her hands over her red face. "I-I just… when I saw your b-blood something switched in my head-"  
>"It's okay Azusa, don't worry about it okay?" Yui quickly said as she moved back over to the confused vampire and put her arms around her giving her a gentle hug. "U-Uhm, but that was my first kiss though."<br>"M-Mine too. I'm sorry I couldn't-" A finger was pressed to Azusa's lips and the brunette gave the girl a kind smile before leaning in to kiss the vampire's forehead.  
>"It's okay, just… try to contain that part of you a little better. I think it may have something to do with the blood. I'll try to be more careful and not hurt myself okay?"<p>

Azusa listened to Yui as she said this and slowly nodded while looking down sadly. She reached up to instinctively grab around her neck before eyes flew open.  
>"Oh no." The vampire began searched her neck with her hand before she gave up and a look of sadness crossed her pale features. "It's gone."<p>

Yui was once again confused. She tilted her head slightly and blinked a little.  
>"What's gone?"<p>

"The necklace my father gave me. I-I must have lost it last night when I got hurt." Azusa replied as she closed her eyes tightly. "It was the only thing I had left of him."

"O-Oh," Yui muttered feeling more pain radiating from the poor creature, "I'm so sorry Azusa. Do you want me to look for it? I mean… it is really important to you so-"  
>"Don't worry about it Yui, I doubt your friend would like that." Azusa quickly interrupted Yui from her train of thought as she shook her head firmly. "Besides, it's not very big. So it's probably long gone by now."<p>

The brunette felt her shoulders droop a little as she watched the poor vampire lay back down and curl into a ball while inhaling deeply.  
>"You know Azusa, if you really want to help out more around here… uhm you said your father taught you how to defend yourself. What did he teach you?" Yui asked trying to get Azusa's mind off the fact that she had lost something very precious to her.<p>

Red eyes shifted over to stare into chocolate brown as Azusa sat up once more to regard the brunette.  
>"Yes, he taught me how to sword fight, fencing to be precise."<p>

"Oh wow, that's great! My father taught me to sword fight too, I mean not fencing but that's where you can come in hand, maybe you can teach me." Yui said excitedly as she put her hands on the vampire's shoulders while she bounced.

"Well I don't know if it'd work with the type of sword you have Yui-"  
>"Come on, I think it'd be awesome to fight like Mio-chan!"<p>

Soon the two of them heard voices getting closer to camp and Yui gasped out loudly. She spent all her time in the tent with the vampire, if Nodoka knew about that…  
>Yui quickly made her way over to the entrance of the tent and motioned to Azusa to cover herself up so she could get out. The vampire somehow realized what she wanted and grabbed her discarded cloak and put it over herself to protect her from the sunlight.<br>Yui quickly got out of the tent and sealed it up.  
>"Okay you can uncover yourself Azusa." Yui whispered to the tent as she stood up to see Nodoka and Mio walking back, both of them carrying something from their hunt.<p>

Mio was hauling a rather large wild boar behind her while Nodoka carried a deer in her wake.

"Ah, good looks like you're still alive Yui." Nodoka said with a smirk as she laid her kill out by the tent as Mio sat her down as well. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble with the little vampire."

"A-Ah, no not at all Nodoka-chan. We talked a lot and it seems like her father use to be in the order." The brunette exclaimed as she tried hard to appear as normal as possible despite the arousal running through her system from the kiss she and Azusa had shared moment ago.

Nodoka's sharp eyes easily caught the uneasiness. After a quick scan of her friend's body she didn't see anything bleeding or bruised so the bespectacled leader shrugged off the awkwardness.  
>"Really? What did you say her name was again?" Nodoka asked as she got down near the deer and pulled out a dagger.<p>

"Azusa Nakano."

Nodoka stalled for a moment a look of intense concentration on her face before she began to clean the deer of its fur to prepare the meat.

Yui waited for any sort of retort or anything verbal from her friend before glancing towards Mio. The raven-haired beauty just shrugged and shook her head, telling Yui not to push the subject anymore before bending down to pick up the boar.

"Azusa-chan, I'm coming in, you can have this boar's blood before we prepare it for food." Mio called out as she opened the tent flap once she heard a soft acknowledgement from the vampire inside.

The brunette could hear Mio set the large boar down inside the tent while Azusa moved away from it.

"What's the matter?" The marksmen hunter asked as stormy grey eyes stare into blood red.

"I… I just don't think I should be drinking blood…" Azusa replied quietly as those shifty eyes went from the boar to the older raven-haired woman.

"Don't worry," Mio replied as she eyed the vampire a bit, "Vampires can drink the blood of animals without fear of hurting someone. Plus it's already dead so go ahead. It'll keep you from feeling hungry enough to feed off us."

"I. Won't." Azusa stated quite firmly as she felt her brow crease while she glared up at the marksmen.

The stormy eyed hunter raised an eyebrow at the sudden defiant tone in the small vampire's voice before she shrugged a little.  
>"Very well, Azusa-chan. But, since you're not going to feed off this boar you better listen to what I say carefully." Azusa felt her throat tighten when a sword was suddenly pulled and the thin tip was pressed against her trachea. Wide maroon eyes stared at the brilliantly designed fencing sword that was held so confidently in Mio's hand as the marksmen sneered at her. "If you ever hurt Yui Hirasawa, I'll kill you faster than Nodoka can." To make her point, Mio flicked her wrist and gave Azusa a small cut on the cheek before slipping the sword back into its sheath. The vampire felt blood drip from the small wound, but her eyes did not leave Mio's. She refused to break the stare. She didn't want to be seen as weak anymore, they all threatened her, they all made her feel like an animal.<p>

They had no right.

"Mio, are you coming?" Nodoka's voice called out causing the stormy eyes to waver a bit.

"Yes, one moment." Mio called out before she bent down, finally breaking the gaze to pick up the boar's legs. "I'll make you a vial of the boar's blood. That way, if you get too hungry you'll easily take it. After all, once a vampire has had blood for the first time… it's hard for them to control themselves around it a second time."  
>Mio turned back around and slipped out of the tent while Azusa raised a hand to wipe the blood off her cheek. So far the only decent people she has met during her short time as a vampire were Yui and Jun. But even then, Yui was restricted to not going near her and she had no idea where Jun was. Azusa decided not to think on it anymore, she would just have to show them she wasn't an animal.<p>

"So she didn't take it?" The bespectacled leader asked as she watched Mio push the edge of a dagger into the boar's side while holding a small vial on the razor sharp edge. She did this to make sure the blood dripped into the vial as she sliced into the tender meat before she turned her head slightly to look at Nodoka.

"No, she didn't. But I'll force this down her throat if she even tries anything." The stormy eyed marksmen hissed bitterly as she turned to watch the vial fill up with the boar's blood before she capped it and pocketed it carefully.

Nodoka viewed her friend with caution; she knew even though Azusa was probably the key to the Vampire King's downfall it wouldn't sit well having a vampire this close to Mio without the raven-haired beauty being worried about it.  
>"Mio, how long have we known each other?" Nodoka asked, shifting her eyes over to her raven-haired friend.<p>

The gunslinger looked up in confusion before a thoughtful look came over her features.

"About… five years?" Mio muttered to herself as she turned to face her friend.

"Yes, going on six now. We can be honest with each other right and you'd tell me if something is bothering you?" The leader said softly as she continued to gaze worriedly at her friend.

"Nodoka…" Mio whispered tenderly as she smiled slightly. She knew where this was going and she appreciated her leader and friend's concern, but it wasn't the time to talk about that yet. "I know what you're going to say and I thank you for your concern. But as long as she doesn't do anything I'll be fine."

Nodoka smiled a little before nodding slightly as she turned to go back to curing the meat of the deer.

Yui wasn't too far away, soulful chocolate eyes dulled by an emotionless gaze that was now focused on the clouds above. It looked like it was about to rain soon and the brunette's nose could easily pick up the sweet scent of rain not too far. Her mind instantly went to her sister and she realized she hadn't come back yet.  
>"Ne, Nodoka-chan?" Yui called out causing the leader to look up from her work. "Did you see Ui on your way back?"<p>

"No actually… hmm, we may need to go find her. Yui stay here and watch over your friend. It's about to get really cloudy and she could easily wander off since the sun is blocked." Nodoka stated as she began to pack up the meet in a sack before discarding the skin and hooves. "Mio, I'll need you to come with me again, if you don't mind."

"Of course not Nodoka. Let's go find Ui-chan." The raven-haired huntress quickly said as she grabbed the vial out of her pocket and handed it to Yui. "Use this if she decides that she wants to feed again."  
>The brunette looked down at the vial then back up at her friends with a worried look in her eyes.<p>

Before they could go looking for the younger Hirasawa soft humming caught their ears.

"Oh, what's everyone doing?"

Yui gasped happily and instantly ran towards the humming ponytailed girl and threw her arms tightly around her.

"Ui!"

"A-Ah Onee-chan! You'll make me drop the fish!"

Mio sighed exasperatedly while Nodoka just rolled her eyes while the two sisters hugged.

"Yui… what are we going to do with you?" The stormy eyed marksmen whispered before she turned her head to look over at their leader. She had a faraway look in her dark brown eyes that made Mio worry a little before Nodoka shook herself out of her thoughts.

"Well now that you're back Ui, let's fix up something to eat."

Mio watched as Nodoka said this while walking up to grab the fish from the youngest of the group. Mio knew what happened with the sisters months back; that day still haunted her as well. She could still see the looks on the Hirasawas faces when they found their parents.

"Mio-chan, come help!"

_No, that's over… we'll help them get better at protecting themselves. Until then all we can do is continue living._

The stormy eyed woman quickly walked over to the small group of friends none of them minding the thick fog that was slowly covering the area.

* * *

><p>Azusa stared once again up at the top of the tent her mind whirling with thoughts about her family and the friends that were slaughtered. Why was she singled out as the only one to survive? Why was she so important? Maroon eyes closed to think back to the night she was turned.<p>

"_Did your father ever tell you about our clan?"_

_Yes he did, and he taught me how to fight you yet I froze up when I saw you…_

"_Did he tell you about-"_

Azusa's eyes snapped open when she felt a very cold hand cover her mouth to muffle the scream of surprise that escaped her.

"Keep quiet, you idiot. I'm here to save you."

The twin-tailed vampire instantly recognized the voice and as soon as the hand released her mouth Azusa stared in disbelief at the pig-tailed vampire before her.  
>"J-Jun?"<p>

The vampire wiggled her fingers in a small wave before she pointed towards the hole in the back of the tent that she had obviously made to get in.  
>"Let's get out of here… Oh but before that." Jun reached into her cloak and pulled the small pendent necklace from her pocket and placed it eagerly into the open palms of her friend. "I found this and that's how I was able to find y-oof!"<br>The vampire's eyes went wide when she felt herself in an unfamiliar embrace. It took Jun a few seconds to register that she was being hugged as Azusa allowed a couple of tears to fall.

"Thank you… thank you so much for finding it."

"O-Oi. Well, you're welcome." Jun muttered as she slowly hugged the younger vampire back before she quickly pulled away before getting too comfortable. She watched as Azusa took the necklace out of her hand and put it around her neck. "But we need to leave now, those vampire hunters are distracted-"  
>"I can't leave them." Azusa interrupted as she looked down with an unyielding expression on her face. "I promised to help them kill the Vampire King."<p>

Jun's eyes went wide. She could feel her chest tighten with rage as she grabbed her friend by the shoulders and shook her slightly.  
>"Are you insane!" Jun hissed in a low whisper. "He'll kill these hunters easily! Besides do you even remember how to get bac-"<p>

"You can help us Jun! Think about it, you're way too nice to even want to be a vampire, that has to be it… don't you want to be free from him?" Azusa replied quickly, trying to talk her friend out of wanting to go back. It was then the twin-tailed vampire noticed the scar on Jun's lip that wasn't there the day before. "Jun… your lip."

She watched as her friend's eyes widened slightly before she turned her face away to scowl at the tent.  
>"… Do you really think they can kill him?" Jun asked. Azusa could faintly hear hope laced within the worried tone.<p>

"With our help maybe… you know so much more about vampires then I do… if you were to talk to them and maybe you continue teaching me how to be more helpful…"  
>"Azusa, this is dangerous. You have no idea what kind of control he has over us." The pig-tailed vampire shook her head firmly while closing her eyes tightly. Before anything else was said, Jun felt a chill run through her body.<p>

_Help me._

"Oh no."

Azusa noticed Jun's eyes looking directly behind her and she turned to see the thick fog blanketing the entire camp. She was about to say something when she felt a hand on her back.

"I have a feeling I was followed here… stay quiet. And remember this… you are much stronger than you were when you were human. If you get into a fight you can take much more damage then what you think."

Azusa was confused by her friend's words and was about to call out to Yui when she heard two familiar voices outside.

"Well, looks like the little gem got captured by thieves." Nobuyo growled out as she waded through the fog towards the group of hunters. Mio and Nodoka both were holding their guns towards the vampire.

"Thieves? Hardly." Nodoka replied; her face stoic as she kept her eyes trained on every movement the slightly large vampire made.

"Really Nobuyo, these hunters wouldn't know the worth of a _gem_ even if it jumped out and bit them. Like a snake or a spider." It was now Yui's turn to jump up and pull her revolver from its holster as another vampire seemed to appear from the fog. The blond vampire just grinned and chuckled at the forced stoic face of the brunette.

"Leave now and you may have a chance to survive." Mio warned the two vampires as she pointed both her revolvers at them.

"I know you." Nobuyo muttered as she narrowed her eyes towards the marksmen and she began to bare her fangs at Mio. "You're the one who throw the powder in my face… I'll never be able to forget that long lovely black hair of yours. I wonder if it'll look the same once I've drained your blood dry."

The raven-haired huntress growled angrily and almost advanced, but Nodoka quickly stopped her.  
>"Don't let her bait you."<p>

The oldest Hirasawa turned slightly to look at Ui who was sneaking off while the older hunters kept the vampire's attention. She knew her sister would be fine as long as she got somewhere out of sight. Yui was proud of how careful and patient her sister was and she would do everything to protect what was left of her family. The brunette turned her gaze back to the blonde vampire before snarling out.

"We don't have your gem, so you shouldn't even be threatening us."

Yui was very confused when Himeko began to laugh.

"You're a woman? That's hard to believe with the clothing you're wearing… But no, this gem is someone very precious to our master."  
>"Yui, I told you not to talk-" Nodoka whispered warningly, but Nobuyo began to advance.<p>

"Too late now, hunters, we're going to make this fun. I hope you're at least a challenge."

The bespectacled leader smirked as the black haired vampire moved to attack and she instantly reached into her vest pocket and threw the same garlic powder right into the attacking vampire's face.

Nobuyo yowled in anger as Himeko dashed forward to attack as well, but Yui instantly rolled to avoid the attack as Mio ran up and kicked the vampire across the temple to get her attention. It worked a little too well for the blonde vampire snarled loudly and reared up faster than Mio could react; the marksmen huntress saw the flash of teeth and was prepared for pain when a shot rang out. Himeko instantly jumped away to hold her arm as she began to look around for the source of the shot, which gave Mio enough time to recover. The raven-haired huntress put her guns back in her holster and pulled her fencing sword from its sheath and quickly slashed out, catching the vampire by the temple.

Himeko growled as she felt blood dribble down the side of her face while her eyes decided not to leave Mio's as she began circling the huntress.

Nobuyo was still working on getting the garlic powder out of her eyes when she felt something blunt, metal and very heavy collide with her skull. It nearly knocked her off her feet and when she finally got her vision back she noticed Nodoka had smacked her with the blunt end of her musket.  
>"Having trouble seeing, monster?" The bespectacled leader jeered as she quickly got her gun to the ready. She didn't get to fire however as the vampire quickly grabbed the barrel of the gun and tried to yank it out of Nodoka's grasp, but the leader was ready. When Nobuyo yanked, Nodoka instantly let go and pulled her sword from its scabbard and lashed out faster than lightning and with practiced ease. The very tip caught the vampire by the shoulder and she yelped out before jumping backwards into the fog for cover. Nodoka's eyes narrowed as she stood as still as possible to be able to hear any movement, she knew the vampire could see her. She then wondered if Ui could hear the vampire.<p>

The leader's eyes went wide as she quickly turned to a loud noise and almost let out a frightened gasp as the vampire leapt out of the mist to attack. Once again a shot rang out and Nobuyo yelled in agony as the bullet pierced her in the upper chest near her collar. Nodoka was very thankful she had Ui watching their back, after all the leader suspected that they would have been killed by now if it wasn't for the youngest of their group.

"Seems like your friends are doing pretty well for being so young." Jun whispered as she and Azusa watched from the tent. The pig-tailed vampire noticed her friend shaking beside her and looked down to see what was wrong. There was a look of terror on her face as she watched the two veterans fight off the two vampires.

Jun turned her eyes back on the fight and noticed something was off. A wave of nausea settled in the vampire's stomach when she realized what was wrong.  
>"There's one missing."<p>

Azusa looked up from the fight and stared at Jun wide eyed.  
>"One missing what?"<p>

"There was another vampire. Where is she? Azusa stay here you're not ready to fight and it looks like these two can handle themselves." The pig-tailed vampire slipped out the back of the tent ignoring the concerned shout from Azusa as she began to climb up one of the trees to get a better view of the area around them.

"Jun! What do you mean there's another-"  
>"Azusa, are you okay, I think those vampires are looking for you." The shocked creature turned around quickly and noticed Yui had crawled back to her and had a look of relief on her face when she noticed Azusa was fine but then those chocolate eyes shifted to the large hole in the back of the tent. "A-Ah, what happened to the tent?"<p>

"Never mind that Yui," Azusa growled out as she stood up and pulled the brunette to her feet, "Your sister is in danger, apparently there was another vampire with them-" She didn't get to finish when she noticed realization make its way onto the older Hirasawa's face.

"Oh no, Ui!"

Yui instantly sprinted out of the tent towards the only place she knew Ui would be watching from. The large outcrop of land that was right near their camping spot.

Azusa quickly followed, she didn't understand why but the thought of Yui getting hurt frightened her. She wouldn't let something like that happen, not to this kind hearted soul. Azusa also made a promise to herself that she would protect Yui's little sister as well. She just hoped that was where Jun ran off to.

* * *

><p><em>This is much more difficult than practicing. If I mess up, I could hit one of them… I don't want to hit Onee-chan or any of them. I have to keep a leveled head and make sure to listen for the vampires.<em>

Ui thought as she kept a close eye on the fog below. She could see faint figures moving frantically in it, but she could only count four. That mean two of them were friendly and the other two were enemies. The ponytailed Hirasawa was laying flat on her stomach with her rifle positioned so she could easily aim as well as shoot.

Nodoka did a very wonderful job training her on how to snipe and she seemed pretty natural at it. The youngest of the four would inhale deeply and hold her breath as she lined up the barrel with her target, and when it moved she exhaled and shot. She was lucky to hit the vampires and not her friends and she was extremely thankful for this.

_They're not down yet; I have to continue aiding them. Vampires are very resilient creatures…_

Ui's thought process stopped when she heard faint footsteps behind her. She waited for the thing behind her to stop before she flipped onto her back and aimed the rifle-

Ui yelped out as it was kicked from her hands and she watched helplessly as it tumbled down the steep cliff-like slop. She was about to move to go get it when she felt hands grab her around the neck. She was lifted off the ground effortlessly before her chocolate eyes stared into glowing blood red of a curly haired vampire.

Ichigo had caught her prey; she wasn't about to allow this little mouse to pick off her clan members so easily. She tightened her grip around the human's neck eyes narrowing themselves in excitement when she heard a strangled cry from the brunette.

Ui didn't have much time, her head was beginning to feel light and her lungs weren't getting any oxygen. She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled the powder that Nodoka gave her and threw it into Ichigo's eyes. The vampire let out a rare yelp before she dropped Ui to the ground to palm at her watery eyes.

Ui used this time to quickly begin to scale down the slope towards her gun. She used the sharp rocks to keep her footing while her hands groped for rocks and roots to hold onto as she climbed down. Just as she was about to get to the ground, she heard a hiss from above and pain started to bloom from her shoulders and head. She lost her footing and grip and tumbled the rest of the way down the slope. She let out a series of yelps and gasps as she slid to a stop right by her rifle. Ui scrambled to get back up when she felt those clawed hands grab her once more before tossing her against the slope. Ui gasped out and clenched her teeth tightly as she realized she wasn't touching the ground. Then she felt hot breath against her neck.

"…" Ichigo stared emotionlessly at the human and almost smirked when the human began to struggle to get out of her grip, but she had her this time. Her claws dug into the fragile skin of Ui's upper arms and she sighed out against the skin. "… You're pretty good. You're so young yet… you fight with such preciseness… I like that." The curly haired vampire whispered as she put her lips against Ui's pulse, feeling the blood rushing through those veins with fear and panic. As the girl began to struggle more furiously Ichigo growled lowly. "… I'll make you mine."

Ui didn't have time to completely understand what the vampire meant when she felt a sharp pain then white hot agony in her neck and shoulder.  
>Searing pain traveled up and down the young brunette's arm when she realized that she was being bitten and she opened her mouth wide to let out a terrified scream.<p>

Ichigo was in bliss right now. It was the only time she felt close to happy as she drank the sweet virgin blood slowly before forcing her _poison_ into the wound.

Even more pain began to blossom in Ui as she felt something within her shoulder and she couldn't stop the tears from trailing down her cheeks as the vampire fed from her.

_O-Onee-chan! H-Help me!_

What she heard next she knew wasn't her sister, but she almost felt relief as the teeth were ripped from her shoulder and her body was dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

From Ui's position on the ground she could see the curly haired vampire struggling against the hold of another vampire. This one had dark chocolate brown pigtails and she was a little shorter than the other vampire.  
>"Jun! What are you doing?" Ichigo actually yelped out when she felt the strong hold she was in.<p>

"Stopping you from hurting her." Jun replied forcefully as those eyes watched the brunette instantly crawl away. She feared what was going to happen to the younger girl since it was clear she had been bitten, but right now Jun had other things to deal with. She quickly threw Ichigo against the slope and snarled out loudly as the other vampire snarled back.

"… You really do want to die, don't you? When the Vampire King finds out about this-"  
>"He won't. You'll be dead before then." Jun growled out as she jumped forward, fangs glistening as she tackled the curly haired vampire over.<p>

The pain was too much. Ui knew it was just a matter of time before the _poison _took over her body and made her one of those things.  
>Or worse, she would turn into a ghoul.<br>She slowly and agonizingly sat her back against the bark of a tree as her breathing came out in quick ragged puffs.

_I-I don't want to turn… I-I have to… t-there has to be some way to fix this… t-there's something in me… it hurts._

The pain coursing through her body jumbled Ui's thoughts. She thought back to what happened when Mio was bitten by a serpent and out of fear of getting poisoned the raven-haired huntress cut the wound a little deeper to allow the blood to force the poison back out.  
>That had to work.<br>Ui took huge gulps of air through her panic as she reached down into her boot and pulled a small decorative dagger from the inside.

"_Onee-chan, what's this for?"_

"_Just in case you do get attacked and can't snipe them… you can protect yourself with this Ui! It was Father's dagger, but he gave it to me. So now I'm giving it to you! Okay?"_

"_Okay, Onee-chan! You can count on me, I'll be careful."_

Ui smiled a little at the pleasant memory as she gripped the handle of the dagger tightly.  
>"F-Forgive me… O-Onee-chan."<p>

With a cry of agony Ui raised the dagger and brought it down on the wound in her shoulder as hard as she could without the intent to kill herself.

* * *

><p>Jun felt her back hit the ground as Ichigo once again flipped her onto her back.<br>There were no longer words between the two vampires as they tried to bite, claw, punch and kick to get the upper hand. Jun had sustained a few new wounds throughout the fight, but it was nothing she wasn't already used to. She knew that Ichigo was also a very strong vampire and needed to end the fight quickly.

Jun's eyes went wide and she watched in horror as Ichigo reared up like a cobra, fangs bared as she went in for the kill.

Of course, the bite never came as Jun finally got a hold of herself and snapped her head up to meet the older vampire's attack. Their heads collided with a painful crack that caused Ichigo to roll off and groan in pain while Jun quickly scrambled to her feet.

_I have to end this now. She'll tell him everything I've done and what Azusa is doing then she won't have a chance in the world to even think about killing him._

Jun thought as she looked at the discarded rifle near her feet. An idea popped into her head as she watched Ichigo pull herself to her feet slowly.  
>"… I see why you're doing this. You're upset because of how they've treated you." Ichigo whispered as her eyes locked with Jun's. "… I can understand that."<p>

"Don't try to sympathize with me, Ichigo. I know you're just like the rest of them. You may not verbally mock me, or torture me… but you really don't care about what happens to me." Jun hissed bitterly as she shifted her foot a little closer to the gun.

"… And killing me isn't going to solve your crisis, Jun… He already knows you're traitorous. And once he finds out your helping humans again… well..." Jun felt her lip turn up into a snarl as Ichigo said this with that emotionless expression on her face, yet she could easily see the smirk on her lips. "And he will find out again Jun. Akira will make sure of it."

"Enough talk Ichigo, I know you want to kill me so come on!" The pigtailed vampire yelled challengingly.

She felt her body tense up as Ichigo took the bait and she leapt at her with a snarl. It was then Jun kicked the rifle up and grabbed it by the barrel. She swung the gun like a lumberjack easily striking Ichigo across the temple with the silver edging. Jun was surprised that the gun didn't break on impact and as Ichigo stumbled from the hit the pigtailed vampire turned the gun around and pressed the cold steel against the curly haired vampire's forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo."

* * *

><p>As Yui and Azusa raced through the trees to climb the steep slope towards where Ui would be, both of them hoped that the younger Hirasawa was okay somehow when they heard the familiar crack of the rifle she used.<p>

"Ui!" The brunette cried out as she got to the top of the slope and began looking around the area frantically.

Her sister was nowhere in sight.

Panic began to race through Yui once again as she ran towards the edge of the slope and looked down. Her eyes caught the scene of two vampires staring at each other; one was lying lifelessly against the slope's edge while the other was holding... Ui's rifle.  
>"No. No no no no!" Yui pulled her revolver from her holster and began to aim the gun at the remaining vampire.<p>

"Yui! Don't!" Azusa cried out when she finally caught up with the brunette. She grabbed hold of the girl's arm and yanked it backwards causing Yui to snarl out. She quickly turned around and pressed the gun against the twin-tailed vampire's jaw as she _glared _into those frightened red orbs.

"Why are you stopping me! That vampire-"  
>"That vampire is my friend and she is helping us! You can't kill her…. Yui please-"<br>"But if she is helping us where is Ui! Where is my sister!"

Azusa didn't know what to say to calm the brunette down, but she did know she could help her scale the slope a little easier. As Yui continued to yell at her, the young vampire reached out and picked the older Hirasawa up and swung her over her shoulder.

"W-What are you doing Azsua!"  
>"Hold on, I'm taking you down there." She replied as she walked towards the edge and looked down. Normally a human jumping off something like this would either kill them or break a few bones, but Azusa was no longer human.<p>

The raven-haired vampire inhaled deeply and jumped. She could feel the wind rush past her ears muffling the sound of Yui's scream when she felt her feet touch the ground. The shock from landing hurt her legs a little but other than that, she felt fine; exhilarated even.

Azusa placed Yui on her feet and watched the girl shake from the experience before she rushed over to Jun who was still staring at Ichigo's lifeless eyes.  
>"Jun, what happened? Where's Ui? The ponytailed girl… did you see her?" Azusa asked quickly since the older sister was still trying to get a hold of herself from the fall.<p>

"I did. She went that way." Jun replied solemnly as she pointed towards the small trail of blood. Azusa noticed the small puddles of blood and her eyes went wide with fear.

"Oh no."

Yui's eyes went to the trail and her chest tightened.

"U-Ui?... Ui!" The brunette once again took off running through the bush following the blood trail. She didn't mind the two vampires following her; in fact her mind wasn't even on that fact. She was completely consumed with the will to find her sister.

"Ui! Answer me!" Yui yelled out once more once the blood trail began to thin out.

"O…O-Onee-chan."

It was faint, but Yui heard it. She quickly stopped and scanned the area before her eyes landed on a small figure curled up against the base of a tree. The older Hirasawa felt tears in her eyes as she ran over to her young sibling and knelt down quickly beside her.  
>"U-U-Ui?" Concerned and worried chocolate eyes locked onto the wound on Ui's shoulder, the one the younger sister was clutching so tightly trying to stop the blood from flowing. But it was obvious the wound was deep and Ui was in a lot of pain.<p>

"I-Im so s-s-sorry O-o-onee-chan… nguh… s-she snuck u-up on me…" Ui muttered weakly as the blood dripped from between her fingers and down her arm.

"S-Shush… don't talk. W-We'll get you back to Mio-c-chan. S-She'll help you. I-I know she will. You just have to hang on okay? Stay awake…" Yui pleaded as tears began to cascade down her cheeks as she watched Ui take shallow breaths.

"I-I w-was b-bitten…"

"What?" The sisters stared at each other intensely and Yui faintly heard the footsteps of the two vampires behind her. "Y-You were what? N-No t-that's not p-possible."

"I-it's o-okay Onee-chan… I…I used the dagger y-you g-gave me… I… I'm letting the poison d-drip out of me."  
>"But you're going to die!"<br>"I-I'd r-rather d-die t-then turn…" Ui mumbled softly as her eyes began to flutter.

Yui noticed this and she began to sob heavily as she reached out to stroke the sweat drenched cheek of her young sister.  
>"Ui… you can't leave me too… p-please."<p>

Hands touched Yui's shoulders and she was pulled away from her sister effortlessly before being pushed into Azusa's arms.

"Hold her." Jun commanded as she knelt down next to the dying girl.

Azusa was a little confused by her friend's actions but did as she was told and kept a firm grasp on Yui's waist as the brunette began struggling slightly.

"W-What are you doing! Get away from her!"

Ui's eyes widened slightly as blood red eyes locked with hers.

Jun studied this dying human carefully as a sense of déjà vu filled her. She had seen this young girl before.

But where?

Jun had to push her thoughts out of her mind and focus on the task at hand.  
>"Do you want to live?" Jun asked as she reached out to cup the cheek of the younger Hirasawa.<p>

"… I-I don't w-want to t-turn-" Ui replied, but was silenced by a finger against her lips.  
>"I'm not going to turn you, but you have to answer me. Do you want to live?"<p>

Ui inhaled deeply as pain coursed through her once again as she let out a whimper of pain.

"I can't help you unless you answer me."

"Y-Yes… I-I want to l-live. I-I d-don't want to l-leave o-o-onee-chan alone." Ui finally answered as she felt tears slide down her cheeks. "Please… h-help me." She didn't even notice the sudden look of realization on Jun's face as the vampire brought her hand up to her mouth and she sunk her fangs deep into her own palm. Her blood began to pool within her hand as she brushed the brunette's hand aside and placed the self-inflicted wound against Ui's wound.

"Then I promise to keep you alive. You and I are under a contract now… a blood pact if you will." Jun explained as she allowed her blood to mix with Ui's. "I'll give you some of my blood… just enough to help you heal and survive. Not enough to change you." The vampire gave the wound in her hand a squeeze making Ui hiss in pain.

"What is your name?" Jun asked as she stared tenderly into the pained eyes of the young huntress.

"U-Ui H-Hirasawa."

The vampire grinned a little and leaned in to press her lips against Ui's ear.  
>"My name is Jun. And you, Ui Hirasawa, are now bound to me."<p>

* * *

><p>Author Note: Don't worry, I didn't forget about Mio and Nodoka. They'll reappear in "Wolf."<p>

The next chapter is an Interlude and will explain a few things about our beloved sisters~ And don't worry, Ritsu, Mugi, Sawako and others will make their appearance soon enough. I have a certain outline I am following and it may seem like it's going to take forever for characters to appear, but that's just part of the plan. And LONG CHAPTER IS LONG! This was over 11k words x.x And I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I know someone is going to be exhausted after beta'ing this. XD

Beta note: tl;dr

^she lies, she read it and even beta'd it when I told her she didn't have to beta it she could just read it. XD


	5. Interlude I

Interlude I: Precious Memory

"Come on, push sweetie!"

The tall man watched as the nurses of the village scrambled to keep the young woman from struggling too much as she gave loud cries of pain. It was a painful sight, but the end result would be well worth it. Giving birth was a hard thing to do, but she had gone through this once before, so Ryu knew his wife would be just fine.  
>"Kaori, you can do it, just one more push." Her husband said as he dried away the tears on the young woman's face with a cloth.<p>

"Miss, we can see your baby, just one more." One of the nurses said excitedly.

After an excruciating final push, Kaori slipped into unconsciousness before she could hear anything else uttered.

When she came to, Ryu was standing beside her bed looking lively and as happy as she had ever seen him.

"T-The baby-"  
>"Is just fine, my wife. She's very healthy."<p>

Kaori smiled brightly at this information.  
>"We have two daughters?" She asked, obviously very happy to have two baby girls to smother with affection.<br>"Yes, she's being cleaned as we speak and we can introduce Yui to her. But first, what should we name her?" The tall dark grey-haired man asked as he took a seat next to her recovering wife. The longhaired brunette closed her eyes in thought as she rested her head against her husband.  
>"I don't know. I want it to mean something special. But… what exactly should we name her?" Kaori asked as she turned her eyes towards the grey hair on top of her husband's head and she reached out to slide her hands through his tussles.<br>"I know, how about we give her a name in the hopes that she can overcome its meaning?" The brunette finally said after moments of playing with Ryu's hair.

The man tilted his head in confusion before a smile graced his lips.

"I see what you mean… so what name is on your mind?"  
>"How about Ui? It fits perfectly with her sister's name… and who knows, maybe giving her this name will make her respected and proper-"<br>"Just like her mother." Ryu purred out as he leaned in and brushed his lips against Kaori's, earning a small giggle from the younger woman.

"You flatter me, but I want to see my precious Ui… can you bring her here along with Yui?" Kaori smiled as Ryu got up from his spot on the bed and quickly made his way out of the room to grab their daughters. It wasn't long before he walked back in with Yui in his arms while a nurse held the newborn.

The brunette held out her arms to take both babies and she couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face as she watched the two interact with each other.  
>Yui wasn't that much older then little Ui, but she instantly took a liking to her sibling. She reached out to grab hold of the newborn's hand and began giggling happily. Ui looked towards her older sister and slowly opened her eyes slightly; once they saw the giggling girl, she couldn't help but laugh as well.<br>"See Ryu! They already love each other." Kaori said happily as she brought the two siblings closer together and watched in awe as they cuddled close and fell asleep almost instantly. The tall man leaned over and kissed his daughters on the forehead before pulling back to smile brightly.

"I think these two will have a bright future ahead of them…"

* * *

><p><em>When I was born, my mother and father didn't expect too much of me. I was their first-born and I was spoiled most my life. Of course, as time went on I'd come to realize just how special my sister is to me. After all, we bonded the first couple of hours that she was born.<em>

_I don't remember, but Father told me about my sister's birth and how I cuddled up to her and fell asleep almost instantly. I think it's so cute! Anyway, as time went on, my sister and I would only become closer… but I didn't realize there would be dangers in the world…_

* * *

><p>"Come on, Ui!" The young five-year-old Yui yelled as she stumbled in her frilly dress out the open door of their small house. The house wasn't big by any means, but it was big enough for a small family of four to live happily. Outside was a small garden that looked well tended to and as the young Hirasawa ran passed it, her sister struggled to catch up with her.<p>

"Onee-chan! Be careful! Papa told us not to run too far!" Came the worried cry of the younger Hirasawa as she ran to catch up with the older sibling in the same frilly dress.  
>"But we need flowers for Mama…" Yui muttered as she slowed down to allow Ui to catch up to her. She then turned to the younger girl and stuck out her bottom lip in the biggest pout either of them had seen. Ui giggled and she walked over and took Yui's hand before began making her way a little deeper into the small forest.<p>

The forest surrounded the small village the girls lived in and there were stories of creatures living in it. But the youngest sibling figured they didn't have to wander too far into the forest. There were flowers everywhere and pretty ones that Yui would be happy with. So Ui lead her sister to a small batch of beautiful purple clematis.

The flowers were covered in a thin layer of dew from that morning still and it gave the clematis a radiant and almost magical glow.  
>Its beauty stunned Yui as she gasped aloud before kneeling down next to it.<p>

"Ui! This one will do! We have to find more like these!" The older Hirasawa yelled as she reached out to touch its petals tenderly. "I feel bad for wanting to take it to Mama, but no other flower will do!"

The ponytailed sibling got down on her knees next to her sister and smiled almost motherly at her enthusiasm.  
>"We can take this patch of flowers to her. I'm sure there are more around. So it won't be that bad to take these." Ui said happily as she watched her sister's smile grow even more before Yui reached out to pick the clematis flowers.<p>

As Ui watched her sister pull the flowers from the dirt, she heard a rustle in the bushes that made her instantly turn around. Worried chocolate eyes stared at the small bush to their left as it shook once more.  
>"Onee-chan. There is something in the bush." The ponytailed sibling whimpered out as fear began to flow through her. Yui looked up once she got all the flowers and followed Ui's gaze to the bush. Their father told them about the creatures in the forest, but the older Hirasawa hoped that they hadn't gone too far and wandered into one of the creature's territories. Then again, it could just be a rabbit.<p>

"Don't worry Ui, it's probably nothing. Just a small animal." Yui tried to soothe her sister's fears as she walked over and handed her one of the clematis. Ui sniffled softly and reached out to take the flower when a small ball of fire engulfed the plant, making Yui yelp and drop the burnt flower before both Hirasawas turned to the bush.

A small imp had pushed its way out of the brush and was now training its eyes on the small children. Its large black eyes stared directly at the two frightened girls before it began cackling at them.  
>Yui watched in horror as it began to summon another ball of fire and she looked between it and her sister quickly.<p>

It was going to hurt Ui!

She couldn't allow that; her sister did nothing to warrant an attack so as it tossed the ball of fire at the two girls, Yui threw herself in front of her sister, hoping to take the blow. Yui didn't feel anything as she and Ui tumbled to the soft grass, but she did hear the death cry of the imp as well as a soft popping sound. When the older Hirasawa looked up to see what had happened, she saw a large stranger staring down at them and a small dust pile that Yui could only guess was the imp. The man wore a white outfit with shining silver armor covering his arms and legs. But the thing that stood out most to Yui about this man was the small necklace on his neck. The pendent was small but it looked very cute, the older Hirasawa thought as she tried to get a better look at it.

"O-Onee-chan?" Ui mumbled as she sat up as well before clinging to her sister as the stranger knelt down to observe them.

Yui suddenly felt her body relax under the kind gaze from those tender garnet eyes as the man pulled his white hood back. His black hair was pulled back into a ponytail as he gave the two girls a gentle smile before picking them up.

"You two must be Hirasawas, I'd recognize that beautiful brown hair anywhere. Let's get you two back home." The man said in a voice that even calmed Ui down. Yui began to whimper once she realized that she had lost the flowers she was going to pick for her mother.

"What's the matter little one? Did the imp hurt you?" The tall stranger asked as Ui reached over to grab her sister's hand.

"N-No, b-but the flowers-" Yui whimpered out sadly before she heard a soft humming noise from deep within the man's throat.  
>"Ah, you mean these?" The older Hirasawa watched as the man bent down and grabbed the small bundle of clematis and handed them over to the small brunette causing a large smile to spread over her cheeks.<p>

"T-Thank you!" Yui cried out happy as she held the flowers close. Ui chuckled softly as the man began walking once again towards their house. The girls heard a small gasp as they watched their parents run towards them before they were dropped into the awaiting arms of their mother.

"Yui! Ui! What were you two girls doing! I'm so sorry mister-"  
>"No no, it's okay," The man interrupted Kaori as he gave the young woman that same kind smile.<p>

"Oh, it's you," The young woman whispered out as she held her daughters close, "What are you doing here? Did the order send you-"  
>"Actually, I haven't been to the order in years… complications have arisen and I had to leave." The man quickly said as he bowed his head. "I was just passing through when I noticed a imp cornering your daughters-"<br>"An imp! What did I told you two about the forest!" Kaori yelled out worriedly as she began checking over both Yui and Ui for any injuries, but she didn't get far as the older brunette pushed the flowers into her mother's face.  
>"But lookit at the flowers we got you Mama!" Yui stated proudly as she puffed out her chest a little while Ui remained silent, fearing her mother's harsh words.<p>

Kaori's face relaxed a little as she looked over the beautiful purple flowers. She closed her eyes and chuckled softly as she hugged her daughter's close.  
>"Thank you again for saving them. Did you stop by to see Ryu again?" Kaori asked as she began walking towards the small house.<p>

"Actually no, I was just passing through. I have to be somewhere for an important… meeting I should say. I just didn't want anything to happen to your little ones. I know I'd be sad if anything happened to mine-"

"So you do have a child. Oh that's wonderful," Kaori exclaimed as she put her daughters down on their feet once she was at the door and she quickly ushered them inside, "Please stay a little bit and tell me about your child."

"Again, I'd love to Kaori-san, but I must be going. Maybe another time." The man said as he bowed his head respectfully before turning on his heels to walk down the forest path away from the small house.

Yui looked up at her mother with wide curious eyes.  
>"Mama, who was that?" Ui asked as she noticed her sister was in some form of awe as their mother turned around and knelt down to their level.<p>

"That is someone very noble. Maybe you'll get to formally meet him formally one day." Kaori said tenderly as she gently pushed them back into the house. "Now come come, we need to get ready for your father so we can eat and Yui~ these flowers are so beautiful!"

Yui was still staring at the direction the man walked when her mother walked passed her and she almost didn't notice the woman.

Almost.

"Yui-chan, I made some delicious food for you."  
>"Yay! Food!" At the mention of food, the older brunette quickly snapped out of her trance and instantly forgot about the noble looking "knight" as food filled her mind.<p>

* * *

><p>It wouldn't be until a few weeks later that Yui and her sister got to officially meet someone from this <em>order<em> they had been hearing so much about. The sisters would walk around town with their mother or father and they could hear the townsfolk talking about the Holy Knights.

Of course as a child, Yui didn't fully understand the order and what they did, but from what she understood they were the good guys.

She got to learn more about these knights and make a new friend the day one of the medics from the order came to do business with her father.

Yui was so curious about these order people that she snuck out to go to their father's workshop to see exactly what they were. She was hiding behind a tree while trying to hear exactly what her father and this strangely beautiful woman were talking about.

"Onee-chan, what are you doing?" Ui asked as she knelt down next to her big sister and she followed her sister's gaze to woman in the white robe. "Who is she?"

"I think she's part of that… order thingy Mama was talking about. You know with that man…" Yui replied as she kept her chocolate eyes trained on that woman, watching as their father laughed loudly at something she said. "I wanna know more about these people. I mean I think they're pretty cool, don't you think? They even let women into the order!"

Ui looked a little confused by her sister's sudden obsession with these people, but she continued to gaze over at the woman every once in a while.  
>"What if they're scary?" The younger Hirasawa muttered as she buried herself against her sister before clinging to her.<br>"Scary?" Yui seemed surprised by her sister's sudden shyness. "But the man that saved us was part of that order. He wasn't scary was he?"  
>"A little." Ui admitted silently.<p>

"What are you two doing?" Came a foreign voice from behind the two sisters. Yui and Ui leaped up and screamed loudly before turning to face the… child?

Yui stared at the young girl who looked to be about the same height as her and she had dark brown hair. She was wearing a small dress similar to the woman's outfit, but it wasn't a robe. However, what really caught the older Hirasawa off guard were those calculating eyes. They were so sharp for a child.

"Don't make me ask again. What are you doing? Why are you spying on Sachi-nee-chan?"

"S-Sachi-nee-chan?" Yui whispered softly as she continued to stare blankly at the girl as Ui hid behind her. "OH! We weren't spying, I was just curious is all!" The older brunette finally yelled as she snapped out of her shocked state before grinning playfully at the girl. "Ne, what's your name? Are you related to that woman? Are you part of the order?"

The girl looked taken back by the sudden barrage of questions that were flowing out of Yui's mouth before she reached up to cover the mouth with her hands.  
>"Okay okay, I'll answer you! Just stop talking so much." The girl yelled as she sighed irritably. "First what's your name?"<p>

"I'm Yui! And this is my sister Ui." The older Hirasawa said happily as she turned around to hug her sister causing the younger one to blush shyly.

The girl bowed her head slightly while giving a slight smile.

"My name is Nodoka Manabe. And the woman over there is my caretaker." The dark brown haired girl said as she turned her eyes to the woman talking to Yui's father.

"Caretaker? You mean she's not your relative?" Yui asked curiously while tilting her head slightly to the left.

"No, she just takes care of me. She's also the one who teaches me." Nodoka said as she began to walk towards the woman once she noticed she was getting ready to leave.

"W-Wait! You didn't answer my questions! And plus you're really nice," Yui quickly yelled out as she ran over to the girl and grabbed her hand stopping her from walking away too fast, "Let's be friends okay? You live at the castle right? You can come visit me and we can play and stuff."

Nodoka looked thoroughly confused as she looked from her hand to the Hirasawa's face before tilting her head slightly.

"Play?"

"Yeah, you know we can uhm… play in my Mama's garden, uh, and and, uh, we can play make believe! Oh you'll love that, I made it up myself!"

"Manabe-san, come on, time to go!" Nodoka turned once her caretaker called out to her and she looked over at her. She looked conflicted from what Yui could see, but finally respect for her "Sachi-nee-chan" finally won over her heart and she pulled her hand away from the child.

"I'll see about that, Yui-chan. Uhm, see you later maybe." Nodoka said with a small shy smile before she turned to run towards the older woman

Yui beamed proudly as she watched the two talk as they disappeared down the dirt path that went towards the Order's castle. She was proud that she seemed to make a new friend and she couldn't wait to get to play with her.

"Onee-chan? Do you think she'll actually come play with us?" Ui asked as she walked over to grab hold on Yui's dress, looking up at her sister with shy eyes.

"Of course! And I bet you anything we'll get to be best friends, just you see." The older brunette proclaimed boldly as she smiled before she turned to run towards the house. "Come on Ui! Lets tell Mama we made a new friend!"

"Wait for me Onee-chan!"

* * *

><p><em>Yep! That's how I met Nodoka-chan! She was pretty serious as a child. Well, I guess even in her adulthood she is serious too… but wait… we're not exactly adults yet either. But the important thing is we became friends when we were quite young.<em>

_We would spend days together just playing and I'd like to think I taught her how to play. Oh! Ui got to be good friends with her too. I think Nodoka-chan sees us as little sisters to her, even if we are the same age._

_But by the time she was twelve, she was assigned to go with a large man to learn how to fight on a mission. It was her first mission and she was excited about it. At least, I think she was; she really never said she was… but anyway, so she left. She came back a year later completely different. She would tell Ui and I to always stay together, to watch each other's backs… things that confused me for the most part. Ui seemed to understand it better and explained to me that she did this because the Holy Knights were a group that killed demons and other unearthly creatures. I don't really understand what unearthly creatures are… I guess that imp was unearthly…_

_Oh I'm sorry, I'm rambling!_

_Anyway, so Nodoka-chan left on another mission shortly after that and it's been almost another year without seeing her again. I'm beginning to miss her a lot…_

* * *

><p>"Ui! Can you fetch your sister? It's time to eat." Kaori called out and she continued to cook the meat Ryu brought home.<p>

"Yes Mother!" She heard Ui's voice yell from outside before it was silent once again. The longhaired brunette smiled to herself at the small fact that they had been so fortunate to not have many _attacks_ on the village, so Yui and Ui could grow up in a peaceful environment. Of course, Kaori's children did have that run in with an imp a few years back, but it had been almost eight years since. She was happy her children were safe and they were much more careful about where they went now.

"Onee-chan, you really shouldn't roll around on the grass like that. It makes your dress dirty." Kaori heard voices once again outside that slowly got closer to the house.

"But it's so hot outside and the grass is nice and cool. Oh and it's even cooler in the morning when the dew is on the grass~ You should try it sometime Ui!"

"Mou, Onee-chan."

Kaori laughed softly along with her ponytailed daughter as the two sisters walked into the house.

"I found her Mother, she was near the lake again just laying on her back." Ui said happily as she walked over to help her mom cook the rest of the food. Yui practically floated over to view the food while sighing happily as the smell drifted into her nostrils.  
>"That smells really good! We're about to eat right?"<p>

"Be patient, Yui," Kaori said as she laughed softly while Ui rolled her eyes playfully, "You'll get to eat soon. The meat is almost done. If you want, you can go grab some water from the well."

The older sibling huffed and saluted her mother respectfully before running out the door.

Yui grabbed one of the water buckets from the side of the house and made her way over to the small well their father had made a few years back. She then hooked the bucket to the rope and began to lower it.

"Yui?"

The voice from behind her made the brunette jump happily before turning to look over her shoulder at the newcomer.

"Nodoka-chan! You came back!"

Forgetting all about the bucket of water in the well, Yui quickly sprinted towards her friend. She didn't hear the loud protests or even notice Nodoka backing up as she leapt and tackled her bespectacled friend to the ground.

"Y-Yui!"  
>"I missed you so much! You were gone so long!"<p>

"W-Well of course I was gone long! I had a mission-"  
>"Oh can you tell me all about it? We're about to eat so we have time. You'll stay right? I mean it's been almost a year since you left-"<br>"Yui…"

"And I know you said being part of the Order would be time consuming, but I didn't think you meant years without seeing you."

Nodoka's face actually fell a little when she noticed the worried look on her friend's face. She carefully removed herself from Yui's death grip and helped the brunette to her feet before brushing herself off.

Yui was always surprised to see Nodoka in her full Holy Knight uniform. It was a beautiful white robe with armor gauntlets on her arms while her feet were covered in boots that looked a bit dirty from her travels. Yui would have said she looked pretty _handsome_ for a female knight.

"I'm actually here on business Yui, I don't have much time to tal-"  
>"Eeeeehhhh~"<p>

Nodoka gave her friend a flat stare at the brunette instantly latched onto her once again.

"You never stay long anymore. I miss you! And I'm sure Ui misses you too! Why don't you just stay for a little bit, eat lunch with us and talk. Pleeeeeeease~" Yui whined out as she gave her bespectacled friend the biggest pout she could muster. She almost smiled as Nodoka sighed heavily before giving up.

"Fine, I'll eat lunch with your family… if you insist on it so much."

"Thank you Nodoka-chan! And why don't you call me Yui-chan anymore?" The brunette asked as she released her hold on her friend. She went back over to the well and began to tug the bucket back up now that it was full of water.

"We're thirteen now Yui. We don't need to use honorifics anymore. We're practically adults now."  
>"No we're not! We still have a ways to go, Mother said so." Yui retorted as she grabbed the bucket and heaved it out of the well. She almost fell over when Nodoka quickly steadied her and took the bucket from her.<p>

"You're almost an adult Yui, whether you like it or not. And you should start acting like it." Nodoka replied firmly as she walked the bucket to the house with practiced ease while Yui followed. The older Hirasawa couldn't help but wonder why Nodoka had changed so much in the eight years that they had known each other. She then realized the personality changes took place when her friend began her training for the Order.

Just what kind of training was it?

And what exactly did Nodoka's missions involve?

"Oh, Manabe-san. What a pleasure seeing you again!" Kaori exclaimed once she saw the taller girl walk in with her daughter. "What brings you here today? I thought you were on a mission-"  
>"I was, I'm back now… for the moment. I'm also here to give some news from the Order. I figured since I'm in town, your family had to right to know about this. But after we eat." The bespectacled girl replied as she sat the bucket of water near Ui. She smiled as Ui gave her a quick hug before going back to finishing up the food.<p>

"I see. Well we're happy to have you. Ryu should be back any moment and we'll eat." The longhaired brunette stated as she put the cured meat on the wooden table.

It wasn't long after they sat the food on the table that Ryu walked in the door. He was covered from head to toe in dirt, but still held a familiar and pleasant smile on his aging face.

"I'm hooome~"

"Father!" Came the collective yell from both sisters as they instantly tackled the large man in a hug.

Nodoka watched with a small smile on her lips as her friends and their father laughed loudly while the two brunettes began trying to tell their father about their day at the same time.

"Oi oi, calm down you two, we'll have plenty of time to talk while we eat. And Ui you can tell me about your day first since we all know Yui is going to be too busy eating to talk." Ryu said with a playful wink as Yui gasped.

"Hey!"

Nodoka laughed along with the family as they sat down to the small feast as she listened to the stories of the day from both Yui and Ui. They lead such simple lives and Nodoka was happy; at least her friendship with this family made her feel normal.

"Okay enough about us Father, let's hear about what you did Nodoka-chan." Yui said instantly snapping her friend out of her thoughts.

The bespectacled girl blinked in confusion before letting out a soft "Ah" of acknowledgement.

"Well, I actually went to the far regions to the north on a mission to find a village. This village is of great importance mainly because they are the home of our sister Order. But it had been almost a year since our last contact with them." Nodoka stated as she took a quick sip of the water before looking down sadly.

"What do you mean by that Nodoka-san?" Ui asked worriedly when she noticed the pained look in her friend's eyes.

"The village was almost completely wiped out." The bespectacled girl whispered solemnly. She turned to look into shocked chocolate eyes before continuing. "You wanted to know what I did Yui? What the Order does… we protect people from creatures that are supernatural. Like that imp you told me about. But the things I've seen are much stronger than just an imp." Nodoka hissed out as she shook her head. "The village didn't stand a chance against whatever attacked it. So many people dead… but it was clear to the Order who committed the crime."

"Vampires?" Ryu asked worriedly, his soft grey eyes staring at Yui's friend.

"Yes." Nodoka muttered as she took a shaky breath. "Nothing could have prepared me from the carnage I saw that day. And it had been almost a year since anyone checked on the village… so you can imagine walking into that area and the smell of… excuse me I don't exactly think this is dinner talk. I apologize." The bespectacled girl quickly said as she bowed her head. "But you can imagine for yourselves what I saw that day and it wasn't a pleasant experience."

The family nodded as Yui got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around Nodoka's neck to give her a reassuring hug.

"I'm sorry Nodoka-chan, you seem to live such an… interesting life. I don't know if I'd be able to handle living your life." The brunette stated honestly.

"It'd take years of desensitizing for you to be able to stand the carnage that I saw that day. I'm still shaken by it."

Yui nodded understandingly as her friend said this before she felt Nodoka remove herself from her grasp and stand up.

"Now, to say what I originally came here to say," The bespectacled girl muttered as she bowed her head, "Thank you very much for the food, but I have news from the Order. We believe there will be an attack on the village very soon and we ask that your family take up the proper precautions. That means no going out at night, no wandering the forest or village alone, always carry a weapon on your person." Nodoka stated as if she were reading a piece of parchment.

Yui blinked in confusion while Ui covered her mouth with her hands.

"Do they know what we'll get attacked by?" Ryu asked, the playfulness in his voice completely gone as he stared over at Nodoka worriedly.

The bespectacled girl shook her head.  
>"We just know there's been a few attacks on villages and animals a few counties over. But it's just a precaution."<p>

"Very well." The sisters watched their father stand and walk over to one of the wardrobes. He began shifting through the cloth before pulling out a small revolver. He walked back over to the table and placed the gun in front of Yui while putting a hand on top of her head. "Yui, I want you to always stay by your sister's side. And keep this on you at all times… or at least near you."

The older brunette continued to stare blankly at her father as Nodoka walked over a put a hand on her back.  
>"Yui."<p>

Snapping out of her gaze Yui pulled the revolver close and held it up to inspect it.

It was an Enfield Revolver, able to fire six rounds without it having to be reloaded.

"But Father, I don't know how to use your revolver…" The brunette objected before she felt Nodoka give her shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm sure your father will teach you easily… am I right Mister Hirasawa?" The bespectacled girl asked, her eyes instantly looking up into the aging man's.

"Of course, I was just saying Yui… you're the oldest and you need to learn to defend your self or your sister if we're under the threat of attack. How about this, after we help your mother clean up from the wonderful feast we just had then I'll teach you how to use it and how to quickly reload it, okay?" Ryu proposed as he smiled kindly while his eldest daughter nodded.

Yui looked back at Nodoka as the glasses wearing girl pulled her hand away and started walking towards the door.  
>"You're leaving, Nodoka-chan?"<p>

"Yes, I'm sorry Yui. I can't stay any longer. I need to get back to the castle before dark." The bespectacled friend said as she gave the worried brunette a smile. "Don't worry about me Yui, I can take care of myself-oof!"

Nodoka didn't get to finish her sentence when she felt a warm body collide against hers, hugging her tightly while burying itself within the stunned "knight's" arms.

"I know I know… just be careful still okay? I wanna see you again tomorrow… is that… alright?" Yui asked between nuzzles as chocolate brown eyes looked up into amused dark brown.

"Fine fine. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Thank you Nodoka-chan!"

Ryu and Kaori smiled as they watched the shorthaired knight walk back towards the castle. The parents were very happy that their daughters had made friends with a powerful ally, but they had more work to do to make sure their daughters would stay safe.

"Okay, girls! Let's clean up!" Ryu called out as he turned around to walk back into the house with his wife.

"_A father's duty is to protect his family. At any cost."_

* * *

><p><em>And so, my father taught me how to use the Enfield Revolver. It was very hard to get use to something like that, the kick it had when I shot it hurt my arm, the loud noise it created made my ears ring, and the smell of the gun powder was nauseating. But the fear of losing Ui kept me from giving it up and soon all those minor things that I hated went away. Sure my arm was sore for a long time, but I got use to it. I got use to everything in the year that father taught me. But even in that year, nothing happened. We had a swarm of bug demons try to attack our crops, but they're really nothing special. Even the imp was more dangerous then those things. I was beginning to think Nodoka-chan's warning was… not entirely true…<em>

* * *

><p>"You're getting better at reloading, Yui." Ryu observed as he walked over to take the gun away from his daughter to inspect it. She had done a very good job at keeping it clean as well. It had only been a year since he gave it to her, but she had improved greatly over that year.<br>_Amazing how someone can change when something or someone they love is in danger… Yui took up learning to use this revolver so quickly for Ui's sake. I must say I'm proud of her._

"Father, it's been a year since Nodoka-chan's warning… and all we had was that infestation of bug demons. "  
>"Even bug demons need to be feared if they are in large swarms." Ryu replied as he put a large hand on top of the brunette's hair, ruffling it softly and making the daughter giggle. "But you're doing so well with keeping your revolver in top shape! I'm very impressed Yui."<p>

"Thank you! I've been keeping Eden in top shape!" Yui proclaimed loudly as she balled her fist at her sides.

The old man blinked in confusion.  
>"Eden?"<p>

"A-Ah, well I figured you know how some people name their weapons? W-Well I know he isn't mine and all… but if you don't mind me calling him that, I think it suits him." The brunette mumbled to herself as she shuffled her feet shyly as her father stared at her wide-eyed.

"But why did you name it Eden?" Ryu asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Well it's an Enfield Revolver right? So… I just shortened it to Eden, plus it gives it a cool aura! You kind of think-"  
>"The Garden of Eden…" The old man finished his daughter's explanation as a small smile lifted his lips. "That's a good name Yui. And technically it is yours now. I still have my swords." Ryu said as he looked up at the ever-darkening skies.<p>

"Should we head inside now?" Yui asked as she put the safety on the revolver.

"Yes, you're mother and sister are probably getting the beds ready. We should sleep since you did so well today." Ryu said as he felt his daughter lean against his side as they walked towards the house.

"That sounds good right now. I'm so sleepy."

The tall man shook his head as he pushed Yui into the house and closed the door behind them before locking it.  
>"Now hurry upstairs and go to bed. Tell Ui I said goodnight."<p>

"Hai~ goodnight Father!" Yui yelled out as she ascended the stairs and into her bedroom.

"E-Eep!... Oh it's just you. Did you have fun with Father, Onee-chan?" Ui quickly pulled her nightgown so she wasn't standing in front of her sister half naked.

"I did Ui~ oh and he says goodnight. I think him and Mother are really tired tonight and are going to bed early." Yui replied as she sat down on her bed and began to pull off her clothing to get ready for bed.

Out of respect for her sister's nudity, Ui turned away and went to a mirror to let down her hair and brush it while Yui got into her own nightgown.  
>"Is using a revolver hard?" Ui suddenly asked, sounding a bit distant as she kept her eyes trained on her reflection.<p>

The older brunette looked up curiously before shaking her head.  
>"Not really, it just takes practice to know how to use it right… like this! Come over here I'll show you a little something."<p>

The young Hirasawa turned around and walked over to her sister's bedside. She watched in awe as Yui pulled the revolver out and turned it on its side to show the switch for the safety.  
>"When you're not expecting a fight you should always keep this turned on like this… see how it is now? This is so you don't accidentally shoot yourself. That's what Father said anyways."<p>

Ui nodded understandingly before she took the gun out of her sister's hands and put it on the nightstand.  
>"We shouldn't stay up any long Onee-chan. Let's get some sleep okay?" The young Hirasawa muttered as she leaned over and pressed her lips against her sister's cheek. "Goodnight Onee-chan. I'll get the lights."<p>

"Thank you Ui~" Yui purred out as she crawled under the blankets and pulled them up to her chin. "Goodnight."

Ui smiled and blew out the candles in their room before she slipped beneath the blankets. She turned towards her sister's bed and watched the blankets rise and fall from the already sleeping older sibling before heavy eyelids closed.

_I think I'll make a quick stop in town early in the morning… just to get Onee-chan something special._

As the sun rose the next day, the youngest in the house quickly got dressed before fixing her hair up in its signature ponytail. Once she was fully dressed, had pocketed her money, and was ready to venture into town, a thought crossed her mind as she looked over at the nightstand by her sister's bed.

_I should take her gun… just in case something does happen. Then I'll at least be prepared._

Ui reached over and grabbed the gun off the stand before shooting her sister a glance as the brunette mumbled in her sleep. It sounded close to "yummy" and the young sibling almost busted out laughing. The young Hirasawa quickly put the gun within the pocket in her skirt as she walked down the stairs of the house. It was always so quiet in the mornings; all that could be heard were the creaks of the stairs as the young brunette tried to sneak out as quietly as possible. She was able to make it out of the house finally without waking anyone up. Ui took a deep breath of the fresh morning air before she continued walking towards town. She knew the shop owner of the store she was going to would already be awake and up, so she wasn't worried about being too early.  
>As she walked the dirt road to the slowly awakening town, she couldn't help but notice that people were already up and about doing laundry or baking bread for later that day. Ui was pretty sure she even smelt pie from somewhere in the town as she walked to the baker's shop.<p>

"Good morning! Are you awake today Mister Haru?" Ui called out as she entered the small building. The smell of fresh pastry and pies drifted into her nose causing her to sigh happily.

"Ah, Ui! I didn't expect you to be here so early." She heard a voice call out before a man appeared from behind the counter. "I take it you're here to pick up your order you put in?"

"Yes, I hope it isn't too much trouble if I can get it now." The brunette replied as she put the money she owed on the counter top. The Young man looked the money before smiling brightly at his costumer.

"It'll be a little bit longer Ui. Why don't you wait outside while I wrap it up for you once it's done cooking."

"Thank you so much Mister Haru."

As the brunette walked outside to lean against the wall, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to her sister's happy and blissful face. It would be twice as happy once Yui saw the pastry she was going to bring home.

Ui didn't have much time to think about these blissful faces when screams caught her ears. They started far away towards the edge of town, but slowly began to get closer and closer.  
>As if right on queue, a large black creature smashed its way through one of the buildings near by, causing Ui to jump up. The young brunette stared wide eyed at the demon that had appeared to be enraged and smashing anything it could get its large pincer-like claws on. That's when she noticed it looked similar to a scorpion but the only noticeable differences were the fact that it was about fifty times bigger then normal and it had glowing red eyes.<p>

It gave a clattering hiss before darting towards the baker's building.

_Oh no! I… Mister Haru doesn't know this thing is out here!... w-what should I do? What should I-_

The weight in Ui's pocket suddenly reminded the younger Hirasawa what she had. She quickly reached into the cloth and pulled the revolver out as fast as she could.  
>She pushed the safety off and aimed the barrel at the demon while it charged at the building and just before it hit, Ui fired.<p>

* * *

><p>"Father! Have you seen Ui? She wasn't in bed when I woke up." Yui asked as she stumbled down stairs while rubbing her still sleepy eyes. Despite being sleepy she was already dressed and her hair was combed.<p>

"Your sister is gone?" Ryu asked worriedly as he stood up from breakfast. "Maybe she went outside to check on the garden…"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The distant sound of a gun being fired caught the attention of both father and daughter as they quickly turned their heads towards the sound.

"That was…"  
>"Eden! I know that sound anywhere!" Yui yelled as he quickly ran towards the door.<p>

"Yui! Wait!"  
>But she ignored her father's words and took off towards the town. Her sister was missing and if she were in town, why would she be firing the revolver? Yui didn't know but she was sure Ui was in danger and she wasn't about to lose someone that dear to her.<p>

* * *

><p>That did it. Firing three bullets into the sensitive skin of the scorpion demon's head seemed to get its attention off the buildings and on her, especially when one of the bullets pierced its eye. Its fury was turned on her and she quickly ran in the opposite direction. It may have been partially blinded, but there were still two very dangerous parts of the demon Ui had to look out for.<p>

The pincers and its sharp poisonous tail.

The young brunette could hear the angry clatter and shriek of the demon that was right on her heels as she led it away from the town. She hoped that her sacrifice at least saved some lives. Her thought process halted as she tumbled to the ground from an root sticking out of the ground and she watched in fear as the gun bounced out of her hand. With a quickness Ui didn't even know she had, she rolled out of the way of the tail as it descended down on the spot she used to be.

It felt very hard to breath from all the adrenaline running through her body as she continued to roll out of the way of that deadly tail. Ui knew she couldn't do this all day and she had to get that gun back to try and kill it before it got her. She was finally able to roll into a small cave that had barely enough room for her. The angry scorpion hissed as it tried to fit its pincer into the small opening to grab its prey, but it wouldn't fit.

Ui slowly caught her breath as she moved till her back was touching the wall. If it wasn't for the small opening, the demon would have already had her by now.  
>The brunette put her hands over her heart to catch her breath while her body continued to shiver almost violently from the scare. Sure she was trapped, but someone would come along soon to save her.<br>Suddenly the whole cave began to shake and chocolate eyes snapped up to see the demon smashing the opening with its claws and she watched in horror as the opening began to get bigger.  
>"Help me!" Ui finally yelled out as fear took hold of her entire being. She didn't want to die and she didn't want this thing to feast on her body like she knew it would. She had heard stories about demons eating the souls of the people they catch. Could this one be the same? Was she completely damned?<p>

Pain shot up her leg and she let out a painful scream. Ui noticed the giant claw had finally pushed its way inside and was now gripping her left leg. The brunette scrambled to grab hold of anything in the small cavern as the demon began to tug her out. She could have sworn she heard it cackle mockingly at her as she was pulled from the cave, now exposed to the scorpion once more.

"Ui! No!"

"Onee-chan!"

The demon twisted its body at the new voice as two shots were fired into its other eye making it shriek in pain as it dropped Ui to the ground.

The younger Hirasawa quickly crawled away from the dangerous creature as Yui began scanning the thing's body for a weak point. She knew all demons had them, but to find that spot on something as armored as this… it would be difficult.  
>She didn't get to look much longer as the demon lunged at her taking her completely off guard. Yui was now trapped, it had her pinned and its tail was aiming right at her.<p>

"Onee-chan!"

The distant frightened voice of Ui could be heard somewhere off to Yui's right, but the brunette could do nothing as the tail came crashing down towards her.

The sound of metal slicing through crunchy exoskeleton was heard next as Yui watched a sword slice through the air before the tail even reached her.  
>Green blood shot from the severed tail as the demon jumped back and gave a wailing cry.<p>

The older sibling watched as her father bent down to grab the revolver from her hand as he aimed and shot right as the demon exposed its belly. Yui watched as the thing instantly crumbled into dust, just like the imp that day back when her and Ui were five.

The older Hirasawa instantly got to her feet and noticed her father running over to Ui's side to check her for any wounds.

"Does anything hurt Ui? Did it sting you?"

"N-No it didn't s-sting me, b-but… my leg." The young girl whimpered when she finally noticed how swollen it looked. Yui walked over to survey the damage done to her sister and noticed the leg was also turning a dark blue-ish black.

"Oh dear… it looks broken. Don't worry. We'll get a medic to look at it and fix it up and you'll be as good as new." Ryu muttered as he leaned in and pressed a fatherly kiss against Ui's forehead as the girl whimpered softly.

"I-I'm sorry… I-I'm so sorry for w-wandering off… I just… w-wanted to do something nice for Onee-chan." The young Hirasawa cried out weakly as she was lifted into her father's arms.

"Shh, it's okay. You're fine. Come on Yui. Let's get home and can you grab Eden?" The tall man asked as he began walking back towards the house. Yui bent down robotically and picked up the revolver from the ground before quickly following her family, her mind a jumbled mess of worried thoughts.

Later that night, Yui watched as the town medic set her sister's leg back into place before wrapping it up tightly so it could heal. It was painful to watch for Ui would cry out in pain every so often before a fever took hold of the youngest Hirasawa. The medic said it was a fever brought on by the pain and infection in the leg but now that it was set and wrapped, the family should keep a close eye on her. He also left some medicine that would help the fever before finally leaving the Hirasawa House hold late that night.

Yui didn't leave Ui's side the entire time, but an emotionless expression was plastered on the girl's face as she watched her sister sleep.

"Yui, it's time for bed. You need to sleep too you know? You've had a hard day as well." Kaori said when she noticed her daughter's expression. She knew the older sibling cared deeply for her sister and it was probably just as heartbreaking for her as it was for the rest of the family.

"Father." The older brunette muttered causing Ryu to look over.

"Yes?"

"C-Can you teach me how to use a sword?" Yui asked as worried finally made its way back onto her face. "Eden isn't enough! What if… what if I lose Eden at some point… I have to have another way I can protect Ui!"

His daughter's words and the heart behind her actions touched the old man's heart. He sighed softly as he put a hand on top of Yui's hair before ruffling the hair slightly.  
>"Sleep. In the morning I'll start teaching you how to use a sword as well."<p>

* * *

><p><em>Ui got hurt because I wasn't beside her. I will never let that happen again. Ui is too precious to me. So while Nodoka-chan went off to continue to learn how to be a Knight, I stayed behind to learn how to use my father's sword. It's difficult and much more tiring then using Eden, but I know the results will be worth it. I'll be able to protect Ui better. She'll stay by my side this time and I'll make sure she understands that she can wake me up to go anywhere she wants… just to avoid something like her getting hurt again.<em>

_While I learned to fight with the sword, Nodoka-chan brought a new friend over to meet us one day. She was a pretty girl with long black hair named Mio-chan! I knew we would become good friends just like Nodoka-chan and I… but I learned that Mio-chan wasn't the same as Nodoka-chan… she was very reserved and didn't talk a lot. She only talked to Nodoka-chan when we first met her._

_But don't worry! Over four years of constantly meeting in between Nodoka-chan's missions, Mio-chan got more talkative. She's very sweet once you get to know her and she even find Ui to be like a little sister to her._

_Anyway, other then that demon attack with Ui… there hadn't really been any demons in our town. Everything was peaceful.  
>It was supposed to stay that way.<em>

* * *

><p>Four years passed since that day Yui wished would stop haunting her. And every day for those four years, she would practice using a sword. The brunette even took the time to teach herself a little when her father was too busy to help.<br>Ui recovered from the injury and the fever but since then, Yui would make sure the younger Hirasawa would stay by her side. As the sun began to set that night, the older Hirasawa let out a soft huff before sitting on her rear while placing her practice sword at her side. She had been practicing all day again and she wondered briefly if Ui was bored. She shot a glance at the girl who was patiently sitting on a log where she was watching her sister practice before offering her a smile.

"Say Ui, do you want to go see if Mother made supper yet?"

The younger brunette shrugged her shoulders and offered Yui a small smile.  
>"If you want Onee-chan. I'm content with just sitting here though."<p>

"Eeeeh? But I'm hungry! Practicing makes my energy go away~" The older sibling pouted as she flopped onto her back and let out a pitiful sigh towards the night sky. "Plus," Yui quickly sat back up and pulled herself to her feet before that emotionless expression made its way back onto her face, "It's getting dark, we should go back home."  
>Ui knew that serious tone well; ever since she broke her leg Yui adopted a very mature and almost frightening sounding voice when she got worried or protective. The younger Hirasawa offered her sister a sympathetic stare before standing as well.<p>

"Very well Onee-chan, let's go home then. I'm sure Mother made you something sweet."

Ui felt relief flood her body as soon as Yui's smile made its way back onto her face. She grabbed the practice sword off the ground and walked over towards the younger brunette as she put an arm around her.

"I think we should do something for our parents soon. You know like… cook all day or clean all day. Just something nice since Father's been teaching me how to fight so long. And I'm even teaching you a little on the sides right~" Yui purred out as she nuzzled her cheek against her sister's.

Ui chuckled and nuzzled back before she smiled up at the older sibling.  
>"Yes you have Onee-chan, and I appreciate it." Even though she said this, Ui couldn't help but feel like she learned more just watching Yui practice.<p>

As the sisters made their way back to the house, the younger Hirasawa instantly pulled away from her sister to stop and look around nervously.  
>"What's wrong Ui?"<p>

Yui's question was lost as the brunette concentrated on the faint noise she was hearing.  
>Then the smell of smoke and something else drifted into her nose.<br>She covered the mouth with her hands as her eyes went wide.

"O-Oh no… Onee-chan!"  
>Yui instantly looked towards the direction of their town and chocolate eyes went just as wide as her sister's. The town was bathed in a blood red glow and screams of death and carnage could be heard from where they were.<p>

"Ui… Ui we have to get back to the house. Now!" Yui quickly grabbed her sister's hand and the two of them raced towards their home, both of them hoping whatever was attacking their town hadn't made it to their house yet. Yui didn't know how her sister was, but right now she felt like her legs were on fire from how much running she was pushing herself to do.

They just had to be okay! Her father was a master swordsman after all and he had experience with guns! They had to be oka-

"Get away from that house damned creatures!" Yui heard her father yell followed by a loud bang then a hiss of pain.

As the sisters busted through the bushes they were greeted with a horrible site. Their house was on fire and it looked like their father was trying to get to the house. Their mother was nowhere in sight.  
>"Father!" Yui yelled out when she realized the danger he was in.<p>

Ryu was surrounded by what looked to be normal humans, except their mouths said differently. They had sharp fangs and bits of flesh hanging from opened jaws. The hissed and snarled before some turned to regard Yui and her sister.

"Run Yui! Take your sister with you!" Ryu cried out frantically as he instantly sliced one of the creatures in half as it jumped to attack him.

The blood and gore both made the eldest brunette nauseous. Despite the sick feeling she didn't want to leave her father.  
>"N-No! Let me fight!" Yui yelled as she reached for the gun that had never left her side these few years.<p>

"Ui!" Ryu yelled out as he cut down another creature, "Take your sister and get out of here! Now! I'll go get your mother and return with you."

"Onee-chan, please!" Yui felt her sister grab her around the waist to try and drag her back. "Please let's get out of here! Father can save her, w-we'll just get in the way!" Ui pleaded as she tugged on the stunned brunette's dress. After watching her father take down a few more of the monsters, Yui let out a strangled cry before turning around and sprinting away from the house along with her sister.

They ran for what felt like hours and neither one of them wanted to stop when they heard the shrieking sounds of the monsters chasing after them.

_They're going to catch us! They're going to catch us! _Yui mind kept repeating as she heard the monsters gaining on them. She heard her sister give a startled yelp before a body hit the ground hard. As the older Hirasawa turned to glance back she noticed Ui had tripped over a branch and the creatures were closing in on her.

But even before Yui could take the breath to scream two shots rang out hitting two of the creatures in the head. They turned into a pile of dust before they even got within ten feet of Ui. As the creatures turned to look for the source of the attack another shot rang out followed by two more. Three of the monsters were hit and they too turned into that fine powder.

Yui was confused by what was happening but she instantly ran up to her sister's side and pulled Ui to her feet. As she did this, the final creature chasing them turned tail to run, but ran chest first into a long brilliantly designed fencing sword. The creature slumped over and it was easily pushed off the edge of the blade by the gunslinger.

"Good job Mio. You did wonderfully at killing five of those vampires." A voice called out from behind the longhaired girl.

Yui looked up to see Nodoka and Mio had arrived just in time to save the two of them and she couldn't contain her joy as she flew towards her bespectacled friend and hugged her tightly.

"Nodoka-chan! T-They're attack our house! Please you have to save them!" Yui cried into her friend's chest, not seeing the look of sadness on both her friend's faces.

"Yui…" Nodoka muttered as she pulled the distraught brunette away from her.  
>"I think you should stay with us for the time being. The Order is cleaning up the remainder of the vampires." Mio said softly as she looked back towards the town that was still bathed in an orange glow.<p>

"B-But, Mio-san… Nodoka-san… our parents they were fighting off the… v-vampires… we have to save them." Ui pleaded next, but she had a bad feeling about the pained looks on the older more experienced girls, and the pain got worse when she watched as a man dressed in a white armored robe walked over to them.

"We managed to chase off the last of the vampires. They won't be coming back to this village anymore. But… there are heavy casualties." The man muttered apologetically as he bowed his head towards Nodoka.

"I understan-" The bespectacled girl was interrupted as she felt her brunette friend tear herself away from her.  
>"C-Casualties? Mother! Father!" In a desperate rush to see if her parents were alive, she barely made out the concerned yell as she ran back towards their house.<p>

Her father may not be a Knight of the Order or a Vampire Hunter, but he knew how to kill those creatures. He would have saved their mother and he is probably just waiting for her and Ui to come back. Right? Everything was going to be okay, right? It had to be-

As Yui stumbled upon the remains of her still burning home, chocolate brown eyes fell upon the bloodied corpse of her father.

That Sachi woman was standing over him with a look of sadness on her face that became pained once she saw the young Hirasawa and her sister appear on the scene.

"Miss Hirasawa-"  
>"No… No t-that can't be…" Yui mumbled out as she rushed over to her father's side and collapsed on her knees near him. The oldest brunette pointedly tried to ignore the gaping wound in the side of her father's neck as she choked out. "Father! G-Get up! Y… you can't be… D-Dad? Please… get up…"<p>

Tears started to stream down her face when she heard Ui give a wail before joining her at their father's side.

_You can't do this to me! You said you'd return… you should have let me fight with you._

"We found the mother," Another Order member whispered that Yui heard, "she didn't even make it out of the house…"

"That's enough. Get out of here you fool… These girls just lost their family. Have you no sympathy?" Sachi hissed angrily while Yui felt her sister lean against her then felt her shoulder become damp with her tears.

_I wanted to help…_

* * *

><p><em>The village was crippled. At least, that's what Nodoka-chan tells me. Most of the people who survived the attack had a lot of work to do to rebuild what was burnt and destroyed.<em>

_As for Ui and myself… well we had to move on. I don't think I would have been able to do it if Ui wasn't there beside me. I was so happy at least she was all right. After days of trying to figure out why he wouldn't let me stay to fight with him… I figured he wanted someone to protect Ui. And that's what I'm going to do. I won't let anything else happen to her. She's the last of my family._

_After that day, Nodoka-chan pleaded with the Order to allow me to stay, but they wouldn't have it. Mio-chan was the only one they would allow into the Order, we were just out of luck._

_Thankfully, Nodoka-chan is so smart. She decided to leave the Order to help us with our new lives. She promise to teach us how to be vampire hunters since the Order wouldn't allow us to stay and train with her and Mio-chan. _

_I made a new promise that day._

_Ui is my last remaining family member. She is my sister. I won't let anything happen to her! I'll die before anything else bad happens to her…_

_How did I screw that up again…?_

_I almost did lose her…_

_Why am I so useless?_

* * *

><p>"Looks like the bleeding is slowing down. That's a good sign, but we still need to get that wound patched up." Jun hissed as she pulled her bloodied hand away from the wound in Ui's shoulder. "How do you feel Miss Hirasawa?" The vampire asked. The young girl rolled her head limply back against the tree.<p>

"I… I feel sick." Ui mumbled out as her hand instinctively went up to hold the pained spot once more.

"Mixing blood will do that. Come on, I'll carry you. Azusa, help her onto my back." The pigtailed vampire instructed as she knelt down near the brunette.

"Okay." Azusa spared the still shocked Yui a small glance before running over to help Ui onto Jun's back grimacing as the scent of blood drifted into her nose.

"O-Onee…c-chan." Ui whimpered out as she was shifted onto the vampire's back.

At the weak cry the older Hirasawa snapped out of her thoughts and instantly was at Jun's side gingerly touching at the wound on her sister's shoulder.  
>"U-Ui, h-hang in there okay? We'll get Mio-chan to fix you up! Maybe with one of those h-herb potions." Yui whispered as she leaned in to kiss her sister on the forehead.<p>

"You have a medic in your group? I thought you were all hunters?" Jun replied as she raised an eyebrow at the older brunette.

"W-well, Mio-chan knows a little…"  
>"That's good enough. My blood will help the healing process along faster and she should be able to live if we can just get her patched up."<p>

Azusa didn't understand how Jun could keep herself controlled when she was covered now in Ui's blood. Then again, this was just looking at her friend from the outside; she had no idea how she was taking it on the inside.

"Azusa, come on." The pigtailed vampire called out as she began to make her way slowly back towards camp, taking her time so as not to hurt the younger Hirasawa. The twin-tailed vampire looked over at Yui who had returned to her statue-esque form, staying rooted to the spot she was in as she watched the vampire walk off with her wounded sister.

"Yui… let's go so we can warn your friends about Ui's condition… and we need to tell them Jun is a friend so she doesn't get shot on sight." Azusa said worriedly trying to snap her savior out of her thoughts. Blood red orbs stared into lifeless brown until finally something clicked behind those irises and the brunette shook her head.

"R-Right, I'm sorry Azusa… let's go." Yui quickly ran passed Jun and her sister towards the camp, her mind swirling with all sorts of thoughts.

But one in particular haunted the poor brunette as tears made their way to the corners of her eyes.

_I really am useless. I'm so sorry Ui. I'll do better. I promise. Just please don't die._

* * *

><p>Author Note: Finally finished! I'm so sorry it took so long to get this out. I kept getting distracted, and I haven't been sleeping well, and I got a new game that I'm very addicted to called Borderlands. Gah. And long chapter is long, but I hope it clears up a few things about Ui and Yui's past. I had fun writing it I just kept getting distracted from it thanks to a certain game as well as not sleeping well. –exhausted even right now- So there's your Interlude part I. The Next Arch is going to be fun. I hope you guys will enjoy "Wolf" as much as I am enjoying writing it.~ Till next time my dedicated readers~<p>

Beta note: That and she kept forgetting to send the chapter to me so I could beta it. She would play video games alllllllll day. Tsk tsk tsk. X3


	6. Chapter 4: Wolf

Wolf

Slash!

_Hiss…_

Dodge!

_Growl._

This vampire was quite agile, Nodoka mused as she slashed and ducked as the creature's hand shot out to claw at her. Thankfully, the bespectacled leader was so well trained that this sort of close combat wasn't an issue; she did spare her friend a concerned glance when she noticed how furiously the other vampire was fighting.  
>Mio did her best to dodge all the blows but a lucky punch sent the raven-haired gunslinger flying.<p>

"You humans are so fragile," Nodoka heard the blonde vampire hiss before claws dug into her shoulder, "You bleed so easily. I'll gladly feast on your blood once I've killed you."

"Hands off demon!" The leader barked as she jabbed her heel into the stomach of the creature, forcing her off. Nodoka then bent down and grabbed her musket off the ground right as Himeko turned her angry gaze onto her. The vampire lunched and the short haired leader brought the blunt end of her musket against the vampire's temple as she flipped the gun and pointed the barrel at Himeko. "I have no problem killing creatures like you," Nodoka growled as she pressed the barrel of her musket against the vampire's temple, watching those red eyes become wide with surprise, "And I will kill you for trying to harm my friends."

Before she could even pull the trigger, Himeko quickly smacked the musket away and jumped backwards into the fog and out of Nodoka's sight.

The bespectacled leader felt panic rise when she couldn't see the vampire. She knew the creature could easily jump out and attack her from anywhere and she desperately hoped Ui was still watching their backs.

"Nobuyo! Fall back!" Nodoka heard the creature call out.

"What? Are you insane Hime-chan? We have these hunters by the-" The black haired vampire protested as she held Mio in the air by her neck, watching her struggle with a sadistic smile on her face.

"Now! We have a big problem…"

The vampire, Nobuyo, hissed angrily and dropped the gunslinger to the ground before jumping backwards into the fog.

The raven-haired gunslinger shot up and trained her revolver on the fog, eyes shifting to every little sound.

"Calm down Mio… I think they're gone." Nodoka called out as she noticed the fog slowly becoming less and less dense.

Slowly Mio put her guns in their holsters and quickly put her fencing sword back in its sheath.

"But why? They had to upper hand… why did they leave now?" The raven-haired gunslinger asked as she pulled herself to her feet and began to survey their surroundings carefully as the fog disappeared.

It finally dawned on Nodoka that they hadn't heard Ui's rifle in a long while and worry began to force a crease in the older girl's brow.

"What's wrong Nodoka?" Mio asked as she noticed the crease.

"Where are Yui and Ui? I haven't heard Ui's rifle go off for a while… and I haven't seen Yui or that new pet of hers." The leader muttered as worried dark brown met stormy grey.

As if sensing the impending demise of their young friends the two more experienced girls turned to sprint only to see Yui running towards them.  
>"Yui! Where's Ui!" Nodoka called out as she ran up to her out of breath friend. "Where is she Yui… what happened? Why are you crying?" The bespectacled leader raised a hand to brush away the tears on the brunette's face as she caught her breath.<p>

"U-Ui was attack! S-She was bitten by… by one of the vampires!" Once Yui yelled this, both Mio and Nodoka blanched. The youngest of their group bitten? The last family member Yui had could turn into one of those things, or worse…

"Where is she Yui? I can probably make something to slow down the changing process…" Mio trailed off when she noticed two figures walking towards them slowly. One she recognized as Azusa, the other was someone foreign.

The other young girl raised her eyes instantly catching Mio's and the raven-haired girl felt her lip upturn into a snarl and her hands reached for the guns at her side.

"No, Mio-chan don't!" Yui instantly tackled the taller girl over hands gripping her friend's wrists while Nodoka watched in confusion. "She saved Ui! Don't shoot her!"

"What do you mea-" Before Mio could say anything she watched as the new vampire dropped Ui's limp form into Nodoka's awaiting arms before backing away from the group.

"I don't expect any of you to trust me right away, but I do want to make myself clear," Jun said firmly as she closed her eyes, "My name is Jun. I'm here because Miss Hirasawa over there and I made a Blood Pact."

As the more experienced girls listened to Jun talk Nodoka quickly sat Ui down and began to tug the bloodied cotton shirt over her head.

"What is a Blood Pact exactly, _Demon_?" Mio hissed bitterly as she pushed Yui off and stood up fully, trying to look intimidating to the smaller vampire.

"A Blood Pact is the pact between a vampire and a human. In order to save ones life, the other must give their blood willingly to the other. This forms a master and slave relationship between the two."

"So you made Ui-chan your slave! I should gut you right where you stand!" The raven-haired girl yelled angrily as she reached for her sword once more.

"You misunderstand," Jun said, standing her ground completely even in the face of Mio's wrath, "Miss Hirasawa is my master."

Azusa blinked a couple of times at this new information and she looked over at the completely shocked expression on Mio's face while Yui looked on stunned.

"I will do everything in my power to protect Miss Hirasawa until my dying breath. And that is why I ask you permission to stay by her side in her time of healing."

Mio began to glare once more. She didn't trust anything this vampire was saying. What if it was all just lies? What if the moment they let their guard down she strikes and deals a final blow to the weakened Hirasawa? She didn't want something like this thing hurting any of her friends.

"Fine." The young raven-haired girl looked up stunned by Nodoka's words. "You can stay, but you have the same restrictions as Azusa. You can stay near the camp, but you're not allowed to get too close. And during the day time we'll supply you with our tent to shield you from the sun… we won't be leaving till Ui is in a better condition." Nodoka's sharp commanding eyes turned to look into shocked grey. "Mio, go look for herbs to help keep any infections away and that can help Ui's healing process."

"But-"

"Mio. Go."

The raven-haired gunslinger growled softly to herself as she stormed off into the forest.

Yui looked up at her childhood friend with adoration in her eyes, but as soon as those commanding eyes turned to her she instantly shrunk back.

"Yui… you should watch over Ui. I'm going to go scout the area. We've been exposed now we have to take turns making sure we stay safe." The leader said firmly as she pulled out her musket and slung it over her shoulder. "Don't let those vampires near your sister. And work on cleaning that wound." Nodoka knew after looking at the wound Ui was more then just bitten. She had been stabbed as well. The bespectacled leader figured the younger Hirasawa was actually letting the blood drip out of her to keep herself from changing.

_That was smart Ui, but you're very hurt…_ Nodoka thought as she began marching off away from the campsite.

The elder Hirasawa watched as her friend disappeared back into the forest, leaving her alone with Azusa, Jun, and her injured sister.

"A-Ah. I should get you into the tent Ui." Yui muttered to herself as she picked her sister up into her arms.

"O… O-Onee…"

"Shh… Don't talk." The older brunette whispered soothingly as she walked over to the tent. She nearly jumped when Jun followed her and opened the tent flaps for her, but seeing the harmless intent in those red eyes put her mind slightly at ease. She quickly sat Ui down and helped her lie down before looking over the bloodied wound once more.

Azusa's eyes were locked onto Jun's form, looking over the blood the vampire was drenched in. She didn't understand how she had this much will power. She could barely keep herself away from Yui when she bled.

The pigtailed vampire shot a glance at Azusa before she closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

"I should go clean myself. Azusa, watch over them. I'll be back and we'll talk then." Jun whispered as she turned on her heels to make her way to a stream or lake that was near by.

The twin-tailed vampire watched her friend go before shifting her eyes onto the tent. That urge was back and it made her yearn for the brunette in a way that scared her.

How could she feel so much lust for someone, especially someone that is the same gender as her? Did it have something to do with the fact that Yui gave her blood? Or was it something else? Azusa didn't know, but she hoped that Jun would have the answers. So slowly the twin-tailed vampire snuck off to talk to the other vampire while Yui worked on cleaning her sister's wound.

* * *

><p>The vampire in question finally found a steam and she quickly dipped her cloak into the running water. Once all the blood was cleaned off she set it aside and looked over her hands at the red liquid on her hands. She shook her head firmly before tugging her boots off her feet before her gaze went back to her hands.<p>

_Was that girl… Hirasawa Ui… was she the one that's been in my dreams? _Jun mused as she stared longingly at the blood. _I… I haven't fed on any human blood in such a long time..._

That thought seemed to scare the pigtailed vampire so much that she instantly jumped into the steam to wash the remaining blood off her body.

_I mustn't think like that. I must resist that urge. Always._

When Jun resurfaced, the blood had been cleaned from her body and she looked over her stained clothing listlessly. Those dulled red eyes staring at the bandages beneath.

_Himeko and Nobuyo must have run off by now. I'm sure He knows by now and it's just a matter of time before he sends someone else after Azusa. But now I have two people to protect… _

The pigtailed vampire pulled herself out of the stream and tugged her shirt off to wring the water out of it and began to work her boots back on.

"Jun."

Shocked eyes shot up to look into the confused and worried orbs of Azusa. The twin-tailed vampire slowly made her way over to her friend those eyes scanning the bandages on Jun's body before she sunk to her knees beside her.

"I-I'm sorry for running to find you, but… I'm sure Yui and her sister are going to be fine. But we have to talk, you have to tell me what's going on with my body."

Jun raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly before pulling her damp shirt back on.

"What do you mean?"

"I-I drank blood." Azusa watched as Jun's eyes went wide before she shook her head and sighed softly.

"I see… why did you drink?" The pigtailed vampire asked as she laid back waiting to listen to her friend's reason.

"I accidently stepped on a trap set by vampire hunters… I was stabbed by one a few stakes and I almost died," She felt her body begin to shake as Jun continued to stare at her curiously, "Yui found me and she stopped her friend from killing me… s-she offered me her blood-"

"Ah, I see, so you unintentionally made the Blood Pact with Miss Hirasawa's sister." Jun muttered as she sat up and gave the younger vampire a small smile. "That's nothing to be ashamed of-"

"That's not it. It's the feelings I'm getting every time I see her blood." Azusa interrupted as she frowned a little. "I keep… g-getting… well…"

"Oh spit it out Azusa, I can't help if I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Fine! I keep getting aroused by her!" Azusa yelled out before she slapped her hands over her mouth and began blushing brightly while Jun just laughed. "W-Why are you laughing! This is serious! Why do I feel like that every time I see and taste her blood!" The twin-tailed vampire felt like her friend was mocking her with those laughs. However, the laughs stopped and Jun placed a reassuring hand on her lower back.

"Oi, that's nothing to be ashamed off. You should understand that blood to us is our food and our source of life. Sometimes it can even cause pleasure." Jun said as she looked up at the cloudy sky a little before breathing out gently. "I haven't felt that before though. I'll let you in on a secret."

Azusa blinked in confusion but eagerly listened to what her friend had to say.

"I've never drunk human blood willingly. I've only drank it once and that was when I was first turned. It still isn't a pleasant memory. One of the few memories I have left of that… it's been so long." Jun muttered nostalgically while the twin-tailed vampire moved a little closer, obviously fully interested.

"How long have you been a vampire Jun?" Azusa asked as she stared over at her friend with sadness in her eyes.

"Hm… it's been a while. I use to keep count, but I don't anymore. I know it's been more then twenty-five years." The pigtailed vampire replied as she once again lay back to look up at the sky. "Time blurs together when you have other things to do and think about."

Azusa nodded understandingly before clearing her throat once more.

"Jun… how do you control yourself around blood?"

The older vampire shot her shaky friend a worried glance before closing those red orbs.

"It takes a lot of practice… I'm sure if you were covered in Miss Yui's blood you'd probably have gone into a frenzy. I guess we should work on that now shouldn't we." Jun said as she sat up and stretched slightly before pulling herself to her feet. "We have time now, would you like a little trial run?"

Azusa tilted her head curiously.

"Trial run?"

"Yep, let me see." The pigtailed vampire began to scan the area with glowing her eyes before quickly running off into the forest.

"Jun! Where are you-" Before Azusa could even get out her question the vampire was gone. The younger vampire sight irritably before she stood up to try and go find her. To her surprise, Azusa watched as Jun walked back dragging a large deer carcass behind her. "What the! H-How did you…"

"I'll teach you more about your abilities later, the one vampire ability I used is called vampire sight. You're able to see things humans can't Azusa." Jun explained as she sat the deer carcass down. "It allows you to see the blood flow in living things. If it has a beating heart you can see it. Again though, that is something I'll teach you later. Right now this is important." The pigtailed vampire hissed as she began to drag her claws down the side of the deer easily slicing it open and its blood began to spill out.

Nausea over took Azusa's senses and the twin-tailed vampire covered her mouth and nose to suppress a gag.

"Think fast!"

"Wha-"

Suddenly and without much warning Azusa felt the large deer carcass hit her body and the smell of fresh blood filled her nose. It wasn't the same as Yui's blood, but the amount that was on her made her choke out as she quickly dropped the body after instinctively catching it. As the younger vampire looked down at her drenched form she could feel something clawing to get out of the back of her mind. She wanted nothing more then to lick every little drop of blood off her body. She wanted to savor the sweetness of it… she had to have it.

"Azusa, don't you dare lick it." Jun's voice said firmly almost instantly snapping Azusa out of her thoughts making those eyes shoot to look at what she was doing. Her arm was slightly raised and her mouth was inches away from the large patch of blood located on her arm.

After swallowing back her queasiness, Azusa let her arm drop and her body began to shake.

"J-Jun. H-help-"

"Keep suppressing it Azusa. I know it's difficult, but you can do it. You're staying yourself so far." Jun replied as she watched the twin-tailed vampire struggle to keep herself in check.

_She's actually doing much better then me… it took me a long time to master that._ The pigtailed vampire thought as she walked over to Azusa. "Try thinking of something else. You're covering in animal blood right now… so think of something pleasant and joyful." Jun advised as she took note of every shake in the twin-tailed girl's body.

"This is cruel!" Azusa hissed as she tried to force herself to think of something else other then the smell of blood coating her very being.

_I can't do this. There's so much on me. I have to lick it, just once. That's not bad right? It isn't human blood._

Azusa couldn't stop herself, but thankfully she was under the watchful eye of Jun. When the younger vampire raised her arm again to lick Jun quickly shoved Azusa into the steam. The sudden blast of cold water against her already cold skin was enough to shock Azusa out of her sudden blood frenzy as she pulled herself onto the bank. She gasped for air and shivered violently while glaring hatefully at her friend.

"What the hell was that for! It's just animal blo-"

"That's right. It's just animal blood." Jun interrupted as she frowned back disappointingly. "If you can't control yourself around animal blood what makes you think you can control yourself around Miss Yui?"

Azusa bit back any more comments that she would have said before looking down at the muddy grass under her.

She felt sick again and now she was freezing.

"Get up Azusa. You're stronger then a normal human now. Being tossed into a freezing stream isn't going to kill you." The pigtailed vampire said as she walked over and knelt down next to the still shivering girl.

"Says you. What if I'm the weakest vampire in the world?" Azusa asked bitterly as she turned to sit on her rear.

"I highly doubt that. The Vampire King wouldn't be as interested in you if you were weak." Jun replied as she stared up at the sky. Azusa looked over at Jun and couldn't stop the next comment that came out of her mouth.

"Then… why does he torture you?"

Jun looked at Azusa shocked, those blood red eyes wider then the twin-tailed vampire had ever seen in the short time of knowing her.

"How did you know he-"

"You didn't have those scars on your face the other day… and I was stabbed by a stake and don't have scars from that… so I figured…"

Jun reached up to touch the scar on her lip feeling its ragged and rough texture before sighing softly. She grabbed her cloak off the branch nearby before smiling sadly towards her friend.

"I… don't want to bore you with my life's story. Let's get back to your friends. I'm eager to see how they will try to heal Miss Hirasawa."

Azusa knew then it wasn't her place to push Jun to telling her about her past. If Jun didn't want to remember it then why should she bring it up? So Azusa stood up with her friend and the two of them made their way back towards the came, both completely unaware of the small vampire bat resting on a tree branch near by. It's red eyes watching and listening to their very move.

* * *

><p>"I see. So that's how it's going to be." Growled the Vampire King as he swirled his bloody drink with one hand. "I knew Jun wouldn't listen to me. And now I know what they are planning." A toothy grin appeared on the large vampire's face as he turned his head back towards the young woman behind him. "Akira. I think you should go fetch Ichigo's body for me. Take Mika with you."<p>

The dark haired vampire tilted her head in confusion.

"Mika, m'lord?"

"Yes. Her skills in the undead are quite amazing don't you think? While you're out have her… entertain our little group of heathens." The Vampire King purred out as he stood up fully, his stature easily towering over Akira's.

The young vampire bowed her head respectfully and turned to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing," Akira stopped as she heard the commanding voice behind her, "tell her not to hurt my gem. I want her in perfect shape."

Her claws dug into her palms as she clutched her fist tightly together as she repressed a snarl.

"As you wish… My lord." Akira muttered before walking out of the large throne-like room into the hallway.

There to greet her was a slightly shorter vampire with curly short blonde hair, her dulled red eyes staring up into Akira's inquisitively.

"What did he want?"

"He wants her alive." Akira replied as she stared sorrowfully into the curious gaze.

"Not getting jealous again are you?" The blonde asked, a small smile played on her lips.

"Don't start this again Ayame." The taller vampire growled as she pointedly walked passed the other girl as quickly as possible even though she knew the vampire would follow.

"You're always so cold towards me now…" Akira stopped when she heard the suddenly broken voice. "Don't you remember anything of what we use to do?"

The stoic expression on Akira's face faltered a bit before she felt cool lips press against the back of her bared neck. Her eyes fluttered and a soft moan escaped her lips as arms encircled her waist to pull her closer.

"Ayame."

"I miss you. You're always so busy doing things for _him._"

Akira quickly turned and pushed the smaller vampire up against the cold stonewall, fury back in those bright red eyes as she stared into unphased orbs.

"Don't do that. If it wasn't for _Him_we would have been dead a long time ago-"

"You've changed so much though." Ayame whispered as she began to trail her hands up Akira's black cotton shirt. "Always so obsessed with being better then everyone… even in death."

The taller vampire snarled loudly. Before anything else was said their lips met in a fiery passion.

As they kissed Akira tugged the blonde's dress strap down slightly from her neck so she could drag her fangs against the pulse.

"I hate you. You know that right? I hate you so much. I don't need you to tell me my mistakes Ayame." The taller vampire growled out before sinking the fangs into the skin causing the other vampire to gasp in pleasure. Akira could feel Ayame's hands clutch her back so tightly that her claws dug and pierced into her skin, but that was forgotten as the blood began to flow against her lips.

"A-Akira… I hate you too." Ayame moaned out as she felt a hand sneak its way under her dress and into her undergarments. "Just… once more… t-tell me y-you hate me… once more tonight."

Akira's eyes became clouded with rage and arousal as she bit harder into the other vampire's neck.

"Don't tell me what to do."

* * *

><p>As Azusa and Jun walked through the forest towards the campsite the younger vampire stared almost listlessly at the ground. Her mind was jumbled with thoughts that were completely foreign to her for all the things Jun told her did sound right, but she was still confused on how it worked. Why did she feel so attracted to Yui? Why was it that whenever she saw the girl's blood that it made her want to… do things to her? She let out a soft sigh that made Jun hum softly in response.<p>

"Oh I'm sorry. I was just thinking to myself. And I'm exhausted…"

"You should have drunk some of that deer's blood."

Azusa frowned in sudden irritation as she shot a glare at the pigtailed vampire.

"You pushed me in the water before I could." Azusa stated plainly. She saw a slight smirk on Jun's face as the vampire shrugged a bit before her eyes caught sight of the camp. She noticed that Mio was now there and it looked like she was tending to the wound on Ui's shoulder while Yui watched worriedly.

But there was still someone missing.

"Azusa. I think you should head on. Watch the area carefully." Jun instructed as she turned to walk in a different direction from the camp.

"And where are you going?" Azusa asked as she watched her friend wander off.

"To look for the other friend of yours."

"She's not my- oh whatever." Jun heard the twin-tailed vampire mutter as she walked off. Part of her hoped that Azusa would learn to become friends with this small group of people.

_It'll make things easier for you in the long run._

Jun began to jog through the brush trying to pick up the scent of the leader of that little group when she stopped in her tracks right at a small clearing. Blood Red eyes watched as the bespectacled leader was making strange hand motions in the air.

Jun watched for a moment longer before there was a brilliant flash of white light then a cold feeling was cascading down her entire being.

_What the hell was that?_

The pigtailed vampire decided to confront this Nodoka and see what exactly she was doing. After all, that was an interesting little trick she just pulled. So the vampire walked out of the bushes slowly and as none threateningly as possible so that when Nodoka turned around she didn't kill her on sight.

The leader did eventually hear her and she quickly turned to see who it was before her body relaxed, but only slightly.

"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to wander off?" Nodoka asked commandingly as she glared Jun down.

"Unfortunately, unless Miss Hirasawa commands me to listen to you then I don't really have to follow your orders. I'm actually here to make sure you're okay. It's dangerous being out here alone." The vampire mused as she tilted her head curiously towards the human.

Nodoka gave a soft "tck" noise before walking towards the brush, stopping a few feet near it, then began to do those strange hand motions again. But this time Jun could clearly see she was drawing runes in the air.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Jun asked, obviously surprised by the leader's knowledge.

"Unfortunately for you, you don't get to know where I learned this." Nodoka replied mockingly before there was another flash of white light and another cold feeling caused Jun to shudder.

"I deserved that. But I'm curious. What does that do?" The vampire muttered as she walked a little closer to the bespectacled human.

"If you must know, I'm setting up a perimeter so if anything else supernatural decides to show up. I'll know."

"Yes, you and whatever walks through that. I can feel it even though I didn't know what it was." Jun hissed as she began to rub her arms trying to get rid of the cold feeling.

"It'll be dead before it ever finds out just exactly what that feeling is," Nodoka replied as she turned around to face Jun with a small scowl on her face, "Why did you follow me here? I don't need another vampire around here. One is bad enough… especially with the way she's been looking at my friend." There was a venomous tone dripping off the bespectacled girl's tongue as she said this, but Jun was unphased by it. She stared calmly towards the human before shrugging.

"Like I said. Making sure you're okay. I'm really not here to suck your team's blood in their sleep… and not all vampires are bad. Just… the ones that are find them and kill them." Jun said softly. The vampire didn't know that Nodoka could clearly see the pain that had forced it's way into her eyes and she relaxed even more under that sorrowful gaze.

"I'm sorry for your loss." The leader muttered softly.

Jun seemed surprised by this, but she shook her head.

"Nothing you could have prevented. Anyway, shall we head back or do you need to continue?"

"No, we can go back. But you still have the same restrictions as Azusa." The leader had to make sure she hammered that into the vampire's head. She didn't need Ui getting bitten in the night by this beast and she would make sure Jun would follow her orders.

"Yes yes, as you wish o'great master." Jun said mockingly as she grinned towards the human. Nodoka was about to get onto her for that when the vampire stopped in her tracks and began sniffing the air.

"What is it-"

"Blood." Jun growled, her eyes shimmering in the dark. "And lots of it."

The two stared each other down respectfully before Nodoka grabbed her musket off her back and nodded towards the vampire.

"Show me where."

Instead of mocking her again Jun decided that this time, they needed to work together. For the scent of blood that had drifted past was too powerful to be normal. So the vampire nodded and took off running towards the smell.

It wasn't very strong, but as they drew closer to the source the smell began to thicken. Jun hadn't smelled anything like this in a long time. Not since that… massacre.

"D-D…"

Jun stopped running motioning Nodoka to stop as well. Confused by the vampire's actions, Nodoka was about to question her when she noticed the vampire was looking at something off in the distance. Following her stare the bespectacled girl's eyes fell onto a man who was badly mauled. His arm was almost literally hanging by a thin muscle as blood poured from his wounds.

"D-Don't…." He muttered weakly as Nodoka instantly ran to his side and began checking to see if there was any chance to save him. It didn't look very good at all.

"Don't talk, I'm going to help you-"

A weak push from the man made the shorthaired girl look up into the dying man's eyes. There was a fear in them she hadn't seen in anyone before.

"D-don't go… t-towards… t-the camp... g-gah ah… it'll k-kill you." The man choked out. Nodoka knew the man was losing too much blood and she wouldn't be able to save his life, but maybe she could find out what did this.

"Tell me," Nodoka whispered soothingly as she pulled her hands away from the man, "What did this? How many people were with you?"

"… i-it'll… kill…" The man exhaled once last time before his hand fell limp and his chest ceased to rise. The bespectacled girl bowed her head in remorse as she raised a hand to close the man's eyes. Whatever did this, it was powerful and it was deadly. And it was her duty to kill whatever it was. As Nodoka stood up she turned her head just slightly to regard Jun who was keeping her distance.

"Go back to the camp and tell Mio that something is out here-"

"And leave you to investigate it by yourself?" Jun asked while smirking ever so slightly. "I don't think so. I'm going with you. If you can't beat the monster that is causing that much bloodshed… I can."

Nodoka would have argued but even she didn't know what she was up against, having a vampire as back up actually seemed like a fairly good plan. So the bespectacled leader nodded her head towards Jun and the two of them turned once again to run towards the scene of the carnage.

Nodoka saw a lot of blood in her life, being part of the Order made it so you got to see carnage daily. So the scene at the man's campsite wasn't a huge shocker to her. But it was still pretty bad. There were bodies everywhere. Some torn limb from limb and others had large chunks of flesh literally ripped from their bodies. Had she not been desensitized to this, the shorthaired girl would have vomited on the spot. But her iron will made her press onward. What could have done this? What was savage enough to rip people in half?

Jun on the other hand was battling her inner beast at the sight of the gore. There was so much blood everywhere. She had to avert her eyes upwards towards the sky to keep herself from looking at the bodies. That urge all vampires got when they were around blood was surging through her begging her for a taste that she constantly denied. Finally when the urge died down once more, Jun dared to open her eyes and look around once more for anything of importance when a small figure caught her eyes.

"Over there." Nodoka heard Jun hiss lowly and dark brown eyes instantly landed on a small child, no older then Yui when they first met. Almost looked like Yui as well. The small girl was trembling fearfully while holding what looked to be a small rifle while her wide eyes stared horrifyingly at the body in front of her.

Nodoka noticed the child was pointing the gun at a young woman who looked to have been shot by this girl. The woman wore ragged looking clothing that use to be a pleasant tan color, but the dirt that stained it gave it a more dirt brown shade. She also had very short shaggy golden brown hair that was just as dirty as her clothing.

The bullet holes in her chest were large and obviously were from the rifle in the child's hands. Was that woman the source of the bloodshed?

Nodoka quickly jogged over to the young girl and knelt down beside her. She wanted some answers, but what she got was the child screaming in fear as she tossed the gun to the ground and bolted from the area.

Jun made to go after her, but was stopped by the sudden intake of breath by the supposedly dead woman.

The wounded girl's chest began to heave as air forced its way back into the cavities and sharp piercing amber eyes snapped open to stare into bewildered and shocked dark brown.

"A-Argh! You little brat! Is that anyway to treat your savior!" The woman yelled out angrily as she sat up fully, hands reaching up to dig into the wounds.

"What are you doing! You're hurt!" Nodoka blanched when she noticed the amber-eyed girl digging out bullets from the wound.

"N-No worries no w-w-worries. Argh! Son of a…" Once all the bullets were removed the girl stood up fully, bones and joints popping back into position before those intimidating amber eyes were once again focused on the bespectacled girl. "What are you doing here? Were you part of that caravan?"

"What? My business is my own. What's more important is who are you? And what business did you have with these people who were all murdered?" Nodoka commanded, trying to use her superior knowledge of the situation to get straight answers.

The amber-eyed girl stared owlishly at her before lips opened wide to allow a loud roar of laughter to come from her lips.

"Them? Murdered? Hahaha! How naive you are… no no you couldn't be part of this caravan. You'd know what you're guilty of. Ah, but that's good… that's very good. Tell me what your name is cutie and I'll tell you mine." Suddenly this woman was a lot more threatening in Nodoka's eyes as she strutted up towards her with a devilish grin on her face. But before the woman could get any closer Jun stepped in front and glared challengingly towards her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Move out of the way little one this doesn't…" Suddenly amber eyes narrowed as they were met with blood red. "Vampire."

"Mutt." Jun barked causing Nodoka to look at her wide-eyed.

"Oh so you know what I am?" The woman asked as she bared her teeth at the young vampire. "I'm surprised you're not feeding on your little pet."

"She's not my pet and you're one to talk. You reek of blood…" Jun hissed as she waved her hand in front of her face as if to fan an invisible stench away from her.

"Shut up, you don't even know the whole story. Did that girl even tell you what happened? Did she tell you who those men were?" A dangerous snarl appeared on the woman's lips as she marched closer to Jun.

The vampire stood, not even flinching as the woman got closer and more menacing.

"Those men kidnapped her from her village. I was merely doing my job making sure they don't… kidnap again."

Jun stared at Nodoka from the corner of her eyes and noticed the leader had her hands on her musket, ready for if the woman would attack.

"I'm not the monster here. They were. And I killed them like I would kill any other monsters…" As if to prove a point, the woman relaxed and stared listlessly at Jun and Nodoka.

"My name is Tainaka Ritsu. And if you want to kill me go ahead."

As the vampire stared at the wolf, trying to gauge if she was telling the truth or not, she felt the bespectacled leader beside her shift slightly.

"What is with the sudden change of heart in creatures of the night…" Jun heard Nodoka mutter before she lowered the musket and shook her head. "I don't like this, but fine. You can go."

"Go?" Ritsu asked as she tilted her head curiously. "You're not going to kill me?"

"Did I stutter wolf?" The bespectacled girl asked as she put the gun back in its holster. "Go on now. Run back to your master."

Anger flared in those amber eyes and as Nodoka turned around to walk away, the tiny wolf lunged. Jun reacted instinctively and tackled the girl before she even came close to the leader before she pinned Ritsu's hands above her head and glared down at her.

"Control yourself, mutt! I'd hate to have to actually kill you myself."

"Go ahead and try! My curse is to forever be what I am! I can never die!" The two creatures stared into each other's eyes, both trying to figure out the other. "I'm sure you know what that's like. Not being able to remember who or what you use to be… and wishing it would all just end. Though it'd be easier for you." Ritsu whispered sadly as she turned her head to one side. "All you'd have to do is wait for the sun. However, my curse allows me to live in the sun normally. If I wanted to."

Jun exhaled and the tension in her body left as she removed herself from the wolf and stood up.

"You… can't die?"

"I've tried. The wound just heals."

The vampire put her tongue to her teeth and looked over her shoulder towards Nodoka who motioned for her to follow.

"We have things to do Jun. Leave her."

Reluctantly the vampire turned on her heels to follow Nodoka back to their campsite, leaving the broken creature to lick her wounds.

"We should have helped her." Jun mumbled softly.

"There was nothing we could have done for her." The leader replied firmly.

"But she's just as lost as Azusa and myself. We should have at lea-"

Jun stopped in her tracks as a sword was drawn and pressed firmly against her throat.

"I have enough strays I need to look after. I don't need another. Do I make myself clear?" Nodoka growled lowly, as if daring the vampire to retaliate.

"Crystal." Jun replied as she glared into those shaded eyes. She could tell the bespectacled girl was not in a good mood and she couldn't blame her. The shorthaired leader pulled her sword back and slid it back into its sheath before marching on back to the campsite.

Jun was happy to see Azusa standing off to the side, watching as Mio applied a sort of greenish paste to Ui's wounds while Yui continued to hold her sister's hand worriedly. But by the looks on Ui's face, the girl was already feeling better.

"Does it hurt Ui-chan? You have to tell me if it does. That usually means I made it wrong-"

"No no… you're doing fine Mio-san. I feel much better thanks to you." The ponytailed girl replied with a smile.

"Good girl. You're very brave. I wouldn't have been able to do what you did." The raven-haired gunslinger said as she smiled brightly before patting the youngest of her team lightly on the head. "You need to rest now. The ointment has been applied now all you have to do is allow it to work."

"Okay Mio-san."

"Ui… are you sure you'll be okay? Do you want me to sleep in your tent with you?" Yui asked worriedly as she brushed her thumb over her sister's knuckles.

"No, I'll be fine Onee-chan. Just help me in to the tent please?" Ui asked as her eyes fluttered a bit from exhaustion.

Before Yui to move to help her sister out, Nodoka and Jun stepped into the fire's light and the vampire quickly made her way to her master.

"Allow me." Jun whispered kindly, showing no harmful intent in those blood red eyes.

At first, the older Hirasawa looked like she wanted to protest, but when Ui allowed the vampire to pick her up no protests left the older sibling's lips.

Jun took the small girl's weight easily in her arms as she ducked her head to enter the tent. Once inside, she noticed the hole she had made earlier had been mended and a futon laid out with small pillows around it.

"You can… put me down now."

The pigtailed vampire shuddered softly at the feeling of the younger Hirasawa's hot breath against her neck from how she was resting against her. But she did as she was told and laid Ui out on the futon as gently as possible.

Their hands brushed against each other causing something to flutter within Jun's chest as their eyes met.

"Thank you for saving me." Ui whispered as she gave Jun an appreciative smile. "I… really didn't want to die."

"Of course, Miss Hirasawa. I'm glad I could help." The vampire muttered obediently as she stood up to leave. But a weak hand gripped her wrist, a touch that incited more then it should have in the russet-haired vampire.

"You don't have to keep calling me that. Please call me Ui."

Jun turned to look into those kind eyes once more and her heart began to thump madly in her chest. Those eyes were directed at her. How can one human be so kind? So gentle… even when she was a monster.

"Very well. Ui… if you weren't in the right state of mind when I helped you I'll give you my name again. My name is Jun... and if you don't mind I have to go. Your leader doesn't like the idea that I'm in here with you, I'm sure." Jun whispered as she pulled her hand free from Ui's grip.

"Oh, right. She's… we all aren't use to seeing vampires up close and that aren't… you know. Trying to kill us." The ponytailed girl muttered, trying hard not to sound rude to the creature who had saved her. "Just give us time… I'm sure we'll become better friends."

"Yes Ui. I'm sure we will. Please rest now. You've been through a lot. Oh." Jun instantly was back at Ui's side so fast it made the younger girl squeak loudly before being silenced by a hand touching near the wound on her shoulder. "I have to warn you. I had to give you enough of my blood to give you hellish dreams. These are dreams usually the fresh vampires get… they are not pleasant dreams." Jun whispered against Ui's ear. Being this close to the vampire made the younger girl's body shiver fearfully, but she took those words into consideration.

"W-What should I do?" The ponytailed girl asked.

"If you're afraid… call for me. I'll always come to you." The russet-haired vampire purred out softly as she pulled away from her master slowly. "Just remember… whatever you see isn't real… but if you get too scared… call for me. I'll be there."

Ui was about to ask more questions but Jun had already slipped out of the tent quickly. So the young Hirasawa did as she was told and laid back down to allow the medicine and the vampire's blood to work.

* * *

><p>"Two vampires are hanging around us like flies! I don't like this at all!" Azusa watched as Mio began to yell angrily at Nodoka. There was obviously something deeper in Mio to force her to act like this when she and Jun were around.<p>

"I know you're upset Mio, but-"

"But nothing! You know how I feel about this!"

"Calm down Mio. I know exactly how you feel, but if there is a chance that they can help us then why shouldn't-"

A growl silenced Nodoka's explanation as the gunslinger turned around and crossed her arms.

"This is a really bad idea Nodoka. Even for you. If the Order found out-"

"We aren't part of the Order anymore Mio! You were there when we left them!"

Azusa felt Jun stand beside her before whispering out.

"The Order? You two can't possibly be part of the Holy Knights are you?" The twin-tailed vampire heard the russet-haired vampire ask.

"This conversation is none of your business vampire!" Mio snapped making Jun raise her hands defensively.

"Relax. I was just curious since he kills people from the Order on sight." The russet-haired vampire replied making both Nodoka and Mio go silent once more. The two exchanged looks before Mio frowned even more.

"See, keeping them both here will only put us all in danger. My whole life's goal is to be able to protect people from them. How do you expect me to trust them after what their kind did?"

Nodoka sighed irritably as she ran her hand across the back of her neck as she shook her head slightly.

"I don't expect you to trust them, I just want you to tolerate them." The bespectacled leader hissed softly before those dark brown eyes focused once more on her hotheaded friend. "Please just try to tolerate them. If they can lead us to _his_ hide out then all should right itself."

The leader watched the raven-haired gunslinger think hard on the situation, still not fully on board with it, but the frustrated young woman nodded before turning around.

"I guess we should rest then. We can eat that boar that got cooked earlier." Mio whispered softly, as if trying to subtly make peace with her long time friend and leader. Nodoka seemed to easily accept the advances of peace by walking over and giving the gunslinger a pat on the back.

"Sure, get it ready. And the sun should be rising in a few hours so we have time before we have to move Ui out."

From the side Yui finally walked over to her two friends. Azusa could see it unsettled her when Nodoka and Mio fought, but once they made it she seemed eager to mingle with them after such a stressful night.

"Actually Nodoka-chan, it's fairly cloudy and I can smell rain… so I suggest we set up the large sheet over the tree branches so our campsite doesn't get drenched." The oldest Hirasawa said as she gave a weak smile to her friend.

"That sounds good. Mio, get out the meat… and do you still have that vial of blood?" Nodoka asked as she walked over quickly to the gunslinger. Mio blinked in confusion before reaching into her pocket to produce the small glass vial. Nodoka took it with a small thanks as she walked over to Jun and Azusa.

"It's been a while since you last drank. You both should take at least a sip of this."

Azusa was about to protest when Jun immediately stepped forward and took the vial while bowing her head.

"Thank you. We will."

Nodoka seemed pleased by the response and she turned to quickly help Yui get the large rain sheet over the small camp area by hanging it from the tree branches above it.

The twin-tailed vampire looked over at her friend curiously as the russet-haired vampire uncorked the vial and brought it to her lips. Azusa watched in fascination as Jun swallowed a good portion of the blood before handing it to her.

"Drink it. It'll help restrain you from 'attacking' Miss Yui again." Jun said with a sly smirk causing the raven-haired vampire to blush darkly.

Azusa figured her friend was right and that she really didn't feel like doing that again to Yui. So she took the vial a little forcefully and brought it to her lips to drain it of the last little bit of the boar's blood.

She almost gagged on reflex. It didn't taste near as sweet as Yui's and the smell was a bit disgusting as it wafted past her nose, but out of respect for her friends, she swallowed the blood whole and shuddered. She could feel her body instantly take the nourishment quickly and her grogginess began to fade away.

"Feeling better?" Jun asked.

"Much, thank you… I guess I should have done that earlier." Azusa replied as she handed Jun the vial while looking over at the small band of hunters before turning to look at her russet-haired friend from the corner of her eyes.

Jun looked to be deep in thought and those usually sharp red eyes were dulled with an unknown emotion. Curiosity began to prickle in the back of Azusa's brain as she cleared her throat to get her pigtailed friend's attention.

Jun's eyes lightened up and she turned her head towards the cat-like vampire while offering a tender smile.

"I think you and I should train a little more. We have a couple of hours so how about it?" Jun suddenly sad making Azusa look taken aback by the abruptness, but she agreed since she wanted to learn a little more about what she was capable of.

"Okay follow me, we'll go out a little ways so you can learn to perfect and hone your vampiric sight."

Azusa followed eagerly, smiling a little at the fact that she was going to get to learn from someone much more experienced. Jun was also one of the kindest vampires she had ever heard or met and she was happy this russet-haired vampire was her friend.

* * *

><p>Sleep came easily for the youngest Hirasawa as exhaustion took over her mind and body. But when her eyes opened next, Ui found herself in a valley surrounded by boulders and cliffs. It was also hurricane like winds pounding knife-like raindrops against her feverish skin. The ponytailed girl briefly wondered if this was the dream Jun warned her about as she began walking aimlessly through the rock-like valley. Her eyes strained to see three feet in front of her while an arm was raised to shield her eyes from the icy rain that started to sting as it pelted her body. She was surprised how vivid this dream was, she could smell the rain and feel the hard rock ground beneath her feet, but what truly surprised her was the pain from the ice drops hitting her wound.<br>It felt real.

It was hard to hear anything over the roar of the winds, but Ui could faintly make out groaning noises getting closer and closer to her position. The young Hirasawa didn't know if she wanted to really find out what that noise was so she sped up to a slight jog as chocolate eyes began to search for a way out of this valley. Finally, she saw a thick vine leading up to the very top of the cliff and it looked sturdy enough to hold her weight. The only issue was her arm. She could still feel the searing pain in it as she reached up with both hands to grab the plant, making her gasp audibly.

She figured if she could climb this cliff and get out, the dream would end and she could wake up. But as soon as she started pulling herself up the rocky cliff side something grabbed her ankle and almost yanked her off the vine.

With a startled gasp, Ui quickly looked down to see what had grabbed her. Chocolate eyes widened in horror as she saw the whole valley was now swarming with ghouls. Each one of them bearing their fangs up at her while three more hands shot up to grab her ankles and feet.

"N-No get away!" Ui yelled frantically trying to hang onto the vine for dear life, but her shoulder begged her to let go as pain began coursing up and down her body.

Ui didn't understand how, but she was pulled down far enough that one of the ghouls grabbed her tightly around the neck easily prying her off the vine and down into the mob. She gave a terrified scream as she felt the monsters dig into her flesh. Fangs, claws, and rotting fingers dug into the breaks in her skin and ripped chucks of flesh off her as tears cascaded down her cheeks while screaming as long as she could. Why wouldn't she die? She had wounds everywhere! Even her neck suffered large chunks being ripped from it. She wanted to die right now, it felt exactly like being bitten by that vampire.

"H-Help me! A-Argh!"

"_Ui! What's wrong with her?"_

Blinking through the tears, the agonized girl heard a familiar voice above the groans of the ghouls.

"_I don't know, her fever spiked! Mio do you have any more of that ointment?"_

"_Yes I do, but I doubt that'll help, it seems like something else is causing this, Nodoka."_

It was her friends. She recognized those voices anywhere. They had to wake her up! But even though she could hear them it didn't phase the dream one bit. The ghouls continued to tear into her flesh like they hadn't had a meal in years making her scream louder.

"S-Save me… I d-don't want to feel this…"

_"Call for me. I'll always come."_

That's right. How could she have forgotten the simple command the vampire gave her? The pain caused in this dream seemed to have dulled her mind badly, but now that she remembered the voice she couldn't help by cry out, hoping her voice would carry over into the real world.

"Jun-chan!"

"Now that's no fun. You shouldn't call for the little runt just yet." A new voice called out and the vine she had previously tried to climb jumped to life and wrapped around her mouth and throat, constricting slightly making it very hard to breath.

Terrified chocolate eyes looked around frantically for the source of the voice before landing on a figure not too far away.

It looked familiar, but Ui's vision was beginning to blur from lack of air and pain.

"Don't worry little one, it'll all be over soon."

The voice was dangerously calm and soothing as if trying to lull her into death. But Ui continued to fight the feeling.

"Mmph! Mmh!" Ui continued to call out for Jun even though her mouth was constricted. She figured even though it was constricted in this dream it wasn't in reality.

"Shut up!" The figure yelled angrily.

"_Why is she calling for that vampire!"_

"_I don't know- what the hell?"_

"_Get out now! Go defend the camp!"_

"_Nodoka-chan! What's that!"_

Ui felt her stomach drop as the sounds of her friend's voices began to get faint. Not because she was losing consciousness, but because they were leaving her side to do something else. But what? She was in pain, she was dying couldn't they see that?

"Sad isn't it, that they'd rather turn their attention to something else other then you." The voice mocked as Ui felt her body grow colder. "They don't care about you or what happens to you. You're too wounded to care for… they don't care if you die."

No, it couldn't be true. It was just a dream. She had to wake up. Jun had to help her!

Ui tried once more to call for help before feeling her chest tighten to the point she couldn't breath at all.

* * *

><p>"So do you understand a little better Azusa?" Jun asked as she watched her friend focus hard on trying to see the hunters from their position above the camp.<p>

"A little, but I'm having trouble making them out… so you just focus on their pulse? And then… you'll see it?" The twin-tailed vampire asked as she squinted her eyes once more down towards the camp.

"Yes, you should be able to see their hearts first. Then the heart beats it should pump the blood through their veins giving you the perfect outline of them." The russet-haired vampire replied while keeping a close eye on Azusa's progress. She was doing pretty good considering. It helped that she was eager to learn.

"Oh I see what you mean!" Azusa suddenly exclaimed proudly as her eyes began to glow bright red. She was able to see Nodoka, Mio, and Yui walking around the campsite while Ui was lying in the tent. At first Ui's heartbeat was slower then everyone else's and it made Azusa realize she had just now fallen asleep. She was about to comment on this when the younger Hirasawa's heart rate began to get faster and faster.

"J-Jun, something's wrong with Ui."

"What?" Jun was suddenly at her side, eyes glowing just like her own as she stared in the direction of Ui's form. She could see the blood rushing through her veins fast and her heart was beating rapidly against her chest.

"She must be having a nightmare, I'm going back-"

A loud collection of groans caught both Jun and Azusa's ears making them quickly turn to the source.

"What is… that?" The raven-haired vampire asked as her eyes went wide at what she saw.

The russet haired vampire narrowed her eyes in anger.

"Mika."

"_Jun-chan!"_

The more experienced vampire groaned softly and held her head as pain flashed through her mind.

"Jun? Are you okay? What's going on? What are those things?" Azusa asked worriedly as she looked down at the increasing number of limping creatures that seemed to have no heartbeat what so ever.

"First of all, they are vampire ghouls. They do whatever their master wants them to do. And the large number of them means that it's a powerful vampire… We need to warn yours friends!"

The two vampires quickly jumped down from their position in the trees and rushed back towards camp with the ghouls tailing them.

* * *

><p>"Jun-chan!" Ui yelled out again in her sleep as sweat and tears rolled down her cheeks. The young Hirasawa was now surrounded by her small group of friends as they tried to look for the source of her agony. Her body was shivering and they could tell by her ever-dampening shirt that the fever was much worse then they had feared.<p>

"Why is she calling that vampire's name!" Mio yelled out worriedly as she began to undo the younger Hirasawa's shirt once more to put some more ointment on the wound.

"I don't know-what the hell?" Nodoka gasped out as she stood up quickly as Jun and Azusa rushed into the tent.

"Get out now, go defend the campsite!" Jun yelled out, there was a commanding tone in her voice as well as worry that laced it making Nodoka not really question her intentions before she rushed out to see what was going on.

As Yui ran out with her the brunette's eyes went wide as they fell on the figures that were limping towards their destination.

"Nodoka-chan! What is that?" The older Hirasawa yelled as the groans got louder.

"Ghouls… lots of them. Get ready to fight Yui." Nodoka ordered making the brunette pull out her revolver and train it on the group. "Azusa, take this." The bespectacled leader said as she tossed her extra sword to the vampire who caught it expertly. "We'll need your help."

The young vampire nodded and got ready for once of her first big fights.

* * *

><p>Back in the tent, Mio glared up at Jun while the vampire continued to stare at her.<p>

"I'm not leaving you in here with her-"

"If you don't go help your friends they'll all die anyways. I give you my word that if I do cause Ui harm you have every right to end my life. Do you understand me! I swear it!" Jun yelled irritably, the worry was more noticeable this time as well as the desperation that was in her voice.

The raven-haired gunslinger's face fell a little at the tone before casting a look back down at the twisting Hirasawa. Her face was scrunched up in agony as she yelled out once more.

"J-Jun-chan!"

"Please! Let me work… let me save her. I can!" Jun begged this time, getting on her hands on knees in front of the taller girl while bowing her head to the ground.

Mio bit her lip hard, but finally pulled herself up and glared down at the vampire.

"I'll take your word. But if she dies, you do too." The gunslinger said firmly before rushing out to stand with the others, her guns already out of their holsters in aimed towards the oncoming attack.

"I seriously doubt we can take on this many ghouls by ourselves Nodoka. Even with the help of a vampire." Mio replied as she felt sweat dripping from her brow as she looked over just how many ghouls were closing in on them. They were completely surrounded by wave upon wave of undead.

But just before the ghouls could get any closer, an unearthly roar rang out.

From the left side of the camp came the sound of loud heavy footsteps before a large furry beast landed in front of the group.

Everyone looked stunned for a bit as the hulking creature growled warningly at the ghouls that continued advancing.

"Let's see how well you do against three hunters, a vampire and a werewolf!" The large creature growled as she turned her amber eyes towards Mio and Nodoka.

"What the…" The gunslinger mumbled out numbly.

Just what have they gotten themselves into?

* * *

><p>Author Notes: Whew, this chapter was actually really slow… I'm also very sorry for the long waits between chapters. . I've been very distracted and I don't mean to be, but it happens. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well as the introduction of Ritsu. Yes she's finally here.<p>

Beta Note: .

-cuddles werewolf Ritsu and runs away-


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